Error of Parallax: The Fantastic Five
by SweetAmberkins
Summary: One of the Fantastic Five volunteer to partake in a wormhole exploration, hoping to find the answers to time travel but instead finding another world where things are almost the same. Well, almost...
1. Error of Parallax

It was almost seven in the morning when their alarm clock went off. Johnny's eyes cracked open a little as he rolled over to switch off the loud beeping noise. He stretched a little before rolling over again to face Amera lying next to him. She yawned and opened her eyes a bit to see Johnny smiling at her; she smiled at him before he leant over to her.

"Morning beautiful." He whispered to her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead and running his fingers through her hair. She smiled again and shrugged into his warm chest, prompting him to wrap his arms around her.

"Morning handsome…" She mumbled almost incoherently into his chest.

"Are you ready for another ground-breaking experiment?" He asked her softly and she nodded against his chest.

"Yeah, I'm excited…but being in your arms is _so_ much more comfortable…" Amera said, finally pulling her head from his chest and looking up at him. He gave her another tight squeeze before brushing the hair from her face and smiling at her.

"It's almost time for us to go up…" He whispered to her again, placing a soft kiss on her lips and gently letting her out of his grasp. Amera smiled at him before yawning and rolling over to her side of the bed. She sat on the edge, looking out of the window into the open sky. She yawned again before she stood up and stretched, and then strolled to the bathroom stark naked for her morning routine. She brushed her teeth, brushed her hair and got into the shower. She wasn't in the shower for long before Johnny joined her, slipping in behind her.

"You know what they say, save water…shower with your fiancée…" Johnny smiled and kissed Amera on the back of her neck. She laughed softly as Johnny ran his warm hands over her wet torso, making her skin prickle with goose bumps.

"Come on, we'll be late." Amera said, turning around in Johnny's arms and placing a wet kiss on his lips.

"They have to wait for you anyway…" Johnny smirked at her.

"But the wormhole won't wait for me." She smiled at him and kissed his wet lips again. She got out of the shower a few minutes later, followed shortly by Johnny; both of them evaporating the water droplets off their skin. Amera strolled out the bathroom naked and to her cupboard to get her Fantastic suit. She reached out for it; and Johnny walked up behind her, placing another hot kiss on her shoulder before taking his suit out of the cupboard from behind her. Amera took her suit off of her hanger and laid it on the bed, then phasing into her air element and slipping into her suit effortlessly. Johnny smiled over his shoulder at her before trying to slip into his own suit. Once he had his boots on, he stood up and they headed out and up to the lab. Reed and Susan were already there, setting up their equipment for the experiment. Once they saw Johnny and Amera enter the lab, they knew it was almost time to go. Reed called Amera over to the console to start giving her a set of instructions.

"Morning, Amera. I hope you slept well. Here are the instructions for today and the special communicator we built for the wormhole. I've worked out that the time fracture is about two years ahead of our time, so if you get there, we should still have this detector to send you back…if not, the plans are on your communicator along with some other things that you might find useful." Reed said quickly and furiously, pointing to her new communicator and a giant detector satellite dish that Herbie was surveying on the roof. Amera nodded and smiled at both Susan and Reed, making them feel a little at ease.

"We've gone over this before, guys. I know the drill. Relax, I'll be fine." Amera said, hooking her new communicator over her ear. Reed and Susan carried on preparing all the equipment, and Amera went over to Johnny standing at the far side of the lab. He smiled as she came over to him, and she smiled back at him.

"Time travel should be fun…I might see if we _ever_ decide on a wedding date…you know, since we've been engaged for two years…" She mocked him and he smiled down at her.

"Hey, I've been saying for the past year that we can fly over to Vegas…just you and me…" He joked with her, but she mock-pouted at him with her wide blue eyes.

"I want a proper wedding, like the _several_ Reed and Susan had." Amera stared at Johnny with wide eyes until he sighed in defeat.

"Ok, I surrender. When you come back we can start talking about the wedding." Johnny smiled down at her and pulled her into a hug. She looked up at him and placed a kiss on his lips, making him smile.

"Hey! Enough of that! I don't need to see that so early in the morning…" Ben grumbled somewhere behind them. Amera slipped out of Johnny's grasp and spun around to face Ben.

"When are you going to get used to the fact that we're engaged?" Amera said with a slightly smug undertone and Ben grumbled at her angrily. Amera laughed silently at Ben, and Johnny joined in as he wrapped his arms around Amera's waist from behind. They stood waiting for the equipment to be up and working, and after a few minutes it was finally running.

"Amera, it's time to head out." Susan said to her across the lab. Amera slid out of Johnny's grasp again and kissed him one more time before heading to the middle of the floor. She switched on her communicator and waved to all of them before lighting up in her light form.

"Remember, everything you need is on your communicator if something goes wrong!" Susan said quickly before Amera disappeared. Amera nodded again and the skylight opened up for her. In the blink of an eye, she beamed out of the lab and into the atmosphere, heading past the moon in seconds.

"Note for future reference; no need to breathe in light form. I have no idea why I didn't notice this before." Amera said into her communicator, letting go of the spare oxygen she had with her. She flattened out her body into a thin streak of light, and zoomed past the last few planets in their solar system.

"More notes; travelling above the average speed of light. Must be the human influence." Amera said once again and stopped, floating in space. She looked back at the planets behind her and activated her communicator, taking a picture of the solar system.

"Not everyday people get to say they've been this far…" Amera said to herself and carried on flying. She started following coordinates from her communicator, telling her where the wormhole would be. She was nearing the edge of their galactic arm and the wormhole appeared from nowhere. Amera smiled and zoomed right through it. She was expecting to see a dizzying illusion of light and matter, but it seemed like she just flew through a doorway. She was back in her galactic arm, and heading through their solar system again. She was excited to see if the experiment had worked, if time travel really was possible. She saw her familiar blue planet up ahead and located the spot where New York was on the North American continent. She burned through the atmosphere and through the skies of New York, setting her sights on the Baxter Building.


	2. Day 1 - Part 1

Amera landed on the streets of New York with a thud, a little harder than what she had remembered. She straightened herself out and looked a little down the road to where the Baxter Building stood, as bright and shiny as she remembered it. Amera started walking down the road towards it but people scattered away from her; unlike the way she remembered the people of New York that liked her. She shook it off, thinking that they could've forgotten about her. She walked on, having people scatter in all directions away from her. Soon enough, she stood outside the Baxter Building lobby, looking through the glass doors. She was nervous; she was worried if something had happened when she went through the wormhole, whether the people she knew and loved had forgotten about her like the people of New York had in the two-year time fracture. She put her nervousness aside and walked into the lobby. She was about to greet the receptionist as she always did, but he beat her to it.

"Good morning, ma'am." He said quickly and nervously, getting to his feet to look over the reception desk.

"Morning, James." Amera smiled back at him and he let out a sigh of relief. At least she knew that she wasn't completely forgotten in the present time. She got into the elevator and pressed the loft floor button. She noticed there wasn't a hand or retina scanner in the elevator, which was strange for Reed; but she knew could force the doors open with her technopathic powers if she needed to. Once she'd reached the loft floor, the doors opened for her before she could manipulate them. She got out of the elevator quickly and looked around, noticing the loft looked different. There were no wonderful gadgets or monitors on the walls; it looked like an elegant, modern penthouse apartment. She stood still and frowned to herself, thinking why Reed would've changed it over two years. She heard footsteps coming down the hallway and turned around to see Susan walk into the hallway. Susan looked shocked to see Amera, and Amera hoped it wasn't because she'd never seen her before.

"Maria! Looks like Latvaria does you good. The new haircut and the suit make you look five years younger." Susan said to Amera, walking up to her before looking her up and down curiously. Amera shook her head at what Susan had just said to her; she couldn't fathom any reason why Susan thought that she went to Latvaria or why Susan was using her second name.

"Latvaria? I just got back from the wormhole experiment…you know the one you guys sent me on?" Amera frowned at Susan and she frowned back at Amera in response. The expression on her face wasn't her usual 'just joking' frown; it was one of genuine confusion.

"You must mean the wormhole _summit_ in Latvaria? The one you just got back from?" Susan said again, tilting her head in confusion. Amera stood back, a little dumbfounded and she wondered if she was even in the right time at all. She knew that it was a good sign that Susan had recognized her, so she couldn't have missed a vital time gap, but things were still not adding up between them.

"I know I'm going to sound…weird…but what year is it?" Amera asked cautiously, and Susan looked at her like she had amnesia.

"It's 2011, silly. How can you forget that?"

Amera smiled widely, more to herself than at Susan. She knew that the experiment worked, but Susan was still confusing her with all the backtracking around her explanations.

"I just time travelled two years into the future…that's insane! Reed is going flip when he knows that it worked!" Amera said to herself again, and Susan carried on staring at her in disbelief.

"Two years? You've only been gone for two weeks…" Susan said to Amera again, trying to sound convincing enough to persuade Amera to her side of the argument. Amera looked at Susan like she was going crazy, and Susan mirrored her emotions almost exactly. Amera kept quiet after that, knowing something strange was going on.

"I heard someone say my name…" Reed's voice came down the hallway. Amera looked as relieved as she felt; Susan backed away from her just a little as Reed entered the hallway. Amera knew that Reed would clear everything up; after all, he was the biggest egghead of the group. Reed smiled at Amera, a way she'd never seen him smile at her before and then spoke to her.

"How was the trip? You could've called me; I would've picked you up at the airport."

Amera frowned again; they must've forgotten about the experiment that they had sent her on two years ago in their time. Reed came up to Amera quickly and stood extremely close to her. Amera looked up at him, expecting him to say something to confuse her even more, but instead he tried to kiss her. Amera pulled back furiously fast and slapped him, her eyes wide from the shock.

"Susan is standing right behind me, Reed! What the hell…what about Johnny? How could you even…?" Amera shouted at him quickly. Reed's hand was over his cheek where Amera had just slapped him, staring at her with his mouth agape.

"I thought we all agreed that we were fine with this situation…are you feeling alright, Maria?" Reed asked again, taking his hand away from his cheek and pressing it to Amera's forehead. He snapped his hand away as fast, staring at Amera once again in disbelief.

"Geez, Maria! You're literally burning up!" Reed said, looking at the scorch marks on the back of his hand. Amera looked at him, her mouth agape and shaking her head.

"You know that's what happens when I sustain my light form for so long…we tested it ages ago…and why are you guys calling me Maria?"

Susan and Reed both paused, now looking as confused as Amera felt. Reed shook his head and looked at Amera with an expression she couldn't quite read.

"Light form? What do you mean by _light form_?" Reed asked. Amera stood frozen for a few more seconds as she realized what he said and how he said it. They didn't know she had powers, or at least she didn't have powers in this time.


	3. Day 1 - Part 2

Amera stood frozen in the hallway, staring blankly at the space between Reed and Susan while they both stared back at her. Only one explanation crossed Amera's mind, but she needed just one more hint to see if she was right.

"Don't you…have powers from the space experiment?" Amera stuttered out slowly, hoping that she didn't sound mad for asking.

"You mean the experiment Victor conducted five years ago with cosmic radiation?" Reed asked with a frown, answering Amera's seemingly foreign questions as if she really was a stranger. Amera's face lit up from the relief of knowing that the experiment had happened after all.

"Yes! That experiment! Didn't you get powers?"

"We weren't part of the team that went up. Victor selected the team…that didn't include us." Reed explained, looking rather disappointed with himself over the subject. Amera then knew what had happened when she passed through the wormhole.

"I'm…I'm sorry for slapping you, Reed. That was uncalled for, but I think I know the reason why we're a little confused…about me…" Amera looked back at them and they both looked bewildered. It seemed like a hard concept to explain to them, but she knew they were both smart and could figure it out easily.

"…I'm not from _your_ planet, or your time…I think I came from a _parallel_ Earth…"

Reed and Susan's eyes both went wide as they looked at Amera, but she could see the puzzle pieces starting to fit together in their heads.

"Uhm…Maria, would you like to sit down in the lounge for a bit so we can try and figure this out?" Susan asked, pointing the way to the lounge. Amera walked to the lounge, which was still in the same place it always was, and sat down on the couch. Susan sat down next to Amera, looking over her like an alien subject. Before Amera had even asked either one of them anything, Reed whipped out a cellphone and dialled a number; putting it on loudspeaker for them all to hear. The phone rang a few times, before someone answered.

"_Hello…?_" A very sleepy voice said over the phone. Reed laid his eyes on Amera, looking confused and yet intrigued at the same time.

"Hey, Maria. Where are you?" Reed asked quickly.

"_I'm still in…Latvaria. Did you forget…that I'm only coming home…in three days. Missing me, Mister Richards?_" The voice on the other end of the line answered with intermittent mumbles. Amera's eyes went wide when she realised there was another _her_ on this planet; she knew it was possible, it wouldn't be the same one, but she guessed the only difference would be the two years in their age.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm missing you. I'm sorry for waking you. Love you, Maria…" Reed said rather awkwardly with Amera watching him.

"_Love you too, Reed…_" The voice answered. Reed hung up his phone and laid his eyes on Amera, a renewed interest in her and where she was from.

"I'm sorry…about the almost kiss in the hallway." He apologised sincerely, which made Amera smile back at him.

"It's ok, Reed. There's no possible way you could've known…or I could've known, for that matter." Amera laughed a little to try and lighten the mood, but it didn't work as well as she had hoped. Amera laid her eyes on a ring on Reed's finger and then concluded that he must be married.

"Are you and Amera…the other one…married?" Amera asked, feeling a little uncomfortable by the idea of being married to Reed. He smiled as he sat down on the coffee table across from Amera.

"Yes, we've been married for almost three years."

A shiver went down Amera's spine as he said those words and then she looked at Susan.

"What about you two? I mean, you and Reed are …were …so good together. Were you ever together?" Amera asked without thinking of the consequences, only realising afterwards how much it could've hurt them both. Reed and Susan laid their eyes on each other for one moment and looked away, and Amera knew she had hit a sensitive point.

"It's a long story…we should probably figure out where your planet is so we can get you back there." Susan said; standing and getting up off of the sofa next to Amera. Reed and Amera followed her, but Amera headed to the place where the lab elevator used to be. Amera stood in front of a wall, with one long painting hanging in the space where the elevator doors used to be on her planet. Amera felt a little lost in the moment after that and she had a sudden feeling of homesickness.

"Where's the lab, Reed?" Amera asked quickly, still looking at the painting hanging on the wall in front of her.

"I've never had a lab here. I have one at work, just upstairs from my office." Reed said, and gestured for Amera to follow them. Amera walked to the elevator, where Susan held a coat for her to slip into.

"That suit is going to be kind of conspicuous…" Susan smiled, looking at Amera's Fantastic suit. Amera nodded in agreement and shrugged into the coat. Amera followed them into the elevator and then onto the sidewalk below, where they caught a cab to Reed's office. On the drive over, Amera started recognising the roads and buildings, and then thought carefully about where they were heading. They got out the cab and stood in front of a building, it looked familiar to Amera, but she was sure it was never that big on her planet. Amera stood in disbelief as she saw a statue in front of her; one that stood fifty feet tall, of Victor Von Doom in front of Von Doom Industries Headquarters.


	4. Day 1 - Part 3

Amera couldn't stop her mouth from falling open at the sight of Victor's statue in front of her. Reed and Susan didn't wait for her as she paused in front of the statue; they were already walking up to the entrance and Amera followed them hurriedly, looking around cautiously.

"Do you two…work for Victor?" Amera asked quietly as to not alarm anyone around them.

"Yes; I'm guessing that we don't work for him on your planet?" Reed asked without turning around, letting Amera through one of the security checkpoints.

"No, and we're not exactly on friendly terms either…I'll tell you about that later." Amera answered quickly. Amera was led through another security checkpoint by Reed, having her eyes scanned before they let her go any further. Amera registered as Maria Richards on their system, and they didn't question her any further. Amera followed Reed and Susan to the elevators and got in. A few people that were in the elevator with them greeted Amera by her other name, and she could only nod back as a nervous response. Once the other people had gotten off at their floors, the elevator went straight to the top floor. The elevator beeped, and Reed entered a passkey before the doors opened. Once the doors were open, Amera was greeted by a familiar sight of Reed's white lab. She instantly felt at home in the lab, looking around carefully to force herself to believe that she was on another planet.

"I guess some things never change…" Amera sighed to herself, and Reed and Susan didn't bother to ask what she meant. Amera turned to Reed and Susan and smiled.

"May I take a seat at the console?" Amera asked quickly, excited to feel at ease again in her surroundings.

"Sure, be my guest." Reed answered, pointing her to the console. Amera took a seat in the swivel chair, and pulled up to the console. Moments before Amera put her hands on the console; she remembered Herbie and what he did to her the first time she was on the system on her planet.

"You don't happen to have a Herbie, do you?" Amera asked quickly as she swivelled back to face Reed.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Reed frowned at Amera. Amera pulled back from the console and stood up again, nervous to explain it to Reed.

"Well, I can't really use your system until I have privileged access to it…and it can only be done by coding my DNA into the system…" Amera explained slowly and Reed and Susan both looked extremely suspicious of her. Reed nodded anyway and headed to a set of drawers on the other side of the room to get the equipment. Susan had her eyes on Amera the entire time, staring at her warily for anything suspicious. Reed came back to Amera and handed her the alcohol swab and needle. Amera swabbed her finger and pricked it, letting a single drop of blood fall onto the slide that Reed was holding. Reed took it over to his scanner and started programming the codes into the system.

"Why exactly was this done on your planet in the first place?" Reed asked, not looking up from the screens as he typed in the codes.

"It might take a while to explain, so it might be best if you see what I do…" Amera answered; but Reed and Susan still looked slightly wary of her. Amera heard the familiar computerized voice start up above her, a voice she knew as Herbie's.

"Hello, Maria. The new hairstyle really suits you…" Herbie said quickly and nervously. Amera frowned at the sudden and scarily nervous greeting from Herbie, but spoke back anyway.

"Thank you, Herbie…" Amera said to him and Reed spoke back to Herbie.

"It's not Maria Richards, Herbie. This is Amera, she's from a parallel planet…you don't have to be nervous." Reed explained, but there was still a rather long pause from Herbie.

"What's wrong, Herbie? Why do you sound so scared of me?" Amera asked, but Herbie didn't answer.

"Maria doesn't exactly like Herbie. She thinks it's frightening that he has so much artificial intelligence." Reed explained, finally putting the slide with Amera's blood into the scanner and uploading her DNA code. As Reed started giving Amera full rights to the system, Herbie's voice came onto the system again.

"Giving…Amera…full rights to the system might have consequences…"Herbie finished, and Amera couldn't help but smile.

"Herbie from my planet gave me this exact speech when I did it over there." Amera finished with a laugh. Suddenly Herbie seemed more at ease with Amera, talking with her again.

"Now that you mention it, you do look slightly younger than Maria Richards. And your hair is still a bit lighter. Would you like to have a seat so we can get started with whatever you needed me for in the first place?" Herbie offered, and Reed pointed Amera to the seat where she sat before. Amera sat down again at the console and put her hands on it, talking blindly to Herbie again.

"This might be a first for you, Herbie, so please don't shock me."

Amera blinked and her communicator started syncing with Herbie; all the data that Reed said would be there would definitely come in handy. All the data Amera needed started popping up on projected screens, showing Reed and Susan all the things they needed to know. The last thing Amera needed, a model of their galaxy, popped up on the screen with a marker indicating where her sun was.

"Reed, do you know the galaxy coordinates of your sun?" Amera asked quickly, spinning around in her chair to face them. They both looked shocked at all the screens that had popped up without Amera even typing one command. Reed shook his head and looked back at Amera.

"Sure, our coordinates are XE 5935…"

Amera looked at the screen with their galaxy, and then the coordinates lit up on the screen. Their suns, their planets, were right across the galaxy from each other. Amera stood frozen as she looked at the screen, realizing again how much Reed would freak out if he knew she was on a parallel planet. Amera looked at Reed and Susan again and started explaining.

"This spot here is your sun, and this one here is mine. I travelled through a wormhole right outside my galactic arm, and then came out right next to yours." Amera explained and pointed out all the details as she spoke, but Reed and Susan still looked too shocked to speak. Susan eventually spoke, but didn't look away from the screen.

"How are we going to get you all the way back there?"

Amera turned back to the screens and one slid out from behind the others, and Amera showed them the plans that Reed gave her for the wormhole detector.

"I have these plans for a wormhole detector, the one we used to find the wormhole in the first place. The wormhole I went through is a recurring wormhole; it opens every three weeks. So in three weeks time, I'll be able to go back, but I have to leave at the right moment or I'll miss it."

Reed and Susan still stood frozen, looking at the screens and nodding. Amera was amazed that they had picked up the whole theory of parallel planets so quickly, and she was glad that they at least believed her.


	5. Day 1 - Part 4

They made their way out of Von Doom Industries Headquarters quickly, without being bothered by many people. Reed and Susan were still slightly stumped by what Amera had done with Reed's computer in the lab, but Amera was sure they would figure it out. They made it out of the building, but Amera immediately noticed a face she had hoped to never see again. Victor was climbing the steps in front of her; right in front of her. Amera immediately felt hostile towards him, ready to snap him in half if she had to. Victor laid his eyes on Amera and stopped in his steps, smiling up at her from the step below.

"Maria! Back so soon? I thought the conference was still going on for another three days?"

"Just play along, Amera. You're the PRO of Von Doom industries…" Reed whispered to her quickly before he turned back to Victor with a smile.

"She handed off some last minute operations to her intern…" Reed answered Victor, which seemed to be satisfying enough for him.

"Ah, good. Well done, Maria. I hope the press conference is as successful on Friday?" Victor asked her again, this time laying his eyes on Amera and almost forcing her to answer him. She knew she had to answer without seeming too suspicious or secretly aggressive.

"Thank you, Victor. I look forward to it."

Victor nodded and carried on walking, and Amera let out a frustrated sigh.

"That was _the_ weirdest experience I have _ever_ had in my life." Amera shivered at the thought again and carried on walking down the steps. Amera followed Reed and Susan to the sidewalk; they hailed down a cab for them while Amera stood behind them. Amera knew she could fly back to the Baxter Building faster, but it was no longer her home, so she didn't want to seem rude. They waited for what seemed like forever before Amera heard a voice that made her heart jump.

"Hey guys! Wait up!"

Amera spun around to see Johnny running down the stairs towards them. He was wearing a uniform she didn't recognise; it looked almost like an Air Force uniform, but the shoulder rank was different. Amera held her breath in; he looked really handsome in uniform. Johnny ran straight into Amera, picking her up in a bear hug that made her smile and made her heart jump again. Johnny put Amera down and smiled at her widely; but _that_ look he used to give her, the look he always gave her on her planet, wasn't there.

"Wow, two weeks does you good! You feel a bit warmer than usual, but the haircut is awesome I must say…" Johnny joked, tossing Amera's hair lightly over her shoulder. Reed then stepped up next to Amera and took Johnny's shoulder, pushing him back a little, which seemed to make Johnny slightly irritated.

"_Wait_…this isn't about you hugging her at all, you _know_ I'm fine with that; but this isn't _our_ Maria…she's…someone else." Reed explained quickly and quietly, and Johnny looked back at Amera slightly perplexed. Johnny couldn't quite figure it out, but Amera knew he suddenly recognised the difference between Maria and herself; and now he looked at Amera like she was a total stranger.

"We'll explain once we get home." Susan said, opening the door of the cab that just pulled up. They piled into the cab and drove back to the Baxter Building in silence. Once they were back in the loft, Johnny looked at Amera more curiously than Reed and Susan had earlier. They led Amera through to the lounge once again and showed her to the couch.

"Ok, I think we should get some type of explanation of what's happening in your world…with us…" Susan asked, not gesturing so much between her and Reed as all of them.

"I think you guys should explain your world to me first, as I'm kinda the odd one out here." Amera asked, and Reed and Susan sat on the coffee table opposite her. Johnny stood far behind them, still looking at Amera curiously. Reed took a deep breath and started explaining to Amera.

"Ok, I'll go first. Maria and I have been married for almost three years. We met while she was still in university; she was dating Johnny and I was dating Susan at the time. We got along really well, and after a while we decided we were better suited to one another. So we broke off our relationships to pursue one of our own…"

"Worst year of my life…"Johnny snapped somewhere behind Reed, and Reed rolled his eyes in response.

"I'm sorry." Amera quickly stuttered out, knowing it must've hurt Johnny.

"Don't worry about it; it's not your fault. Besides, we've all moved on since then. Anyway, as you mentioned the space mission earlier; I selected a team to go with, but the Board of Trustees rejected my list, which included the five of us. They eventually went with Victor's team, and they were involved in the accident. They've kept out of the spotlight, but every now and again you hear about them. There should be some things about them on the net." Reed finished, hoping that was explanation enough for Amera.

"And what about the company going under? There should've been bad press and the stock going down and all that…" Amera asked again.

"Well, Maria is the PRO, and she spun it well enough to save the company. In fact, Victor is one of the richest men in the world right now." Reed answered again, and Amera sat back into the couch in disbelief.

"And is Victor evil?" Amera asked again, wondering how different their worlds could really be.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's just a regular CEO. Well, other than the powers he got, but he doesn't use them." Susan answered Amera, and Amera frowned back at her.

"I'm pretty sure Victor wouldn't change, especially if he got powers…"

"Ok, we'll tell you more about our _ordinary_ lives later, but tell us where _you_ came from?" Susan asked Amera, and Amera tried to think of a quick way to summarise the lives of the Fantastic Five.

"Well, the six of us went on the trip; me, Johnny, Ben, Susan, Reed and Victor. I only met most of you the day of the launch, and of course we were involved in the cosmic radiation accident. So we got powers, all pretty cool…wait, where's Ben?" Amera stumbled off her path of thinking when she realised Ben wasn't there.

"Ben is in Latvaria with Maria…but please carry on. You say we all got powers?" Reed asked, sitting forward and looking at Amera inquisitively.

"Yes. There so many things each of us can do, it's almost too much to explain…maybe I can show you another day. Anyway, in my world, you and Susan have been married for two years and Johnny and I have been engaged for two years as well…" Amera said quickly, and silence filled the room. Amera could see Johnny's shocked reaction at what she had just said, about her and the other Johnny, but he quickly looked away from Amera and to the other side of the room.


	6. Day 1 - Part 5

"This is the spare room. You can make yourself at home; I trust you know where everything is." Reed explained to Amera, and she nodded in response.

"Thanks Reed." Amera mumbled. Reed nodded and left her standing in the room that was once her own on her planet, before she moved into the same room as Johnny. There was a spare computer with internet on the desk, a bed with side tables, a dresser and wall of built in cupboards. Amera walked over to the computer and switched it on; starting to research the planet she was on using her technopathic powers. Everything was the same as on her planet, except for the team that got the powers. Amera crawled through the internet and looked them up, and soon enough she knew enough about them and their powers. They seemed almost normal except for their powers; they led normal lives away from the press and rarely did anything to attract attention. There were also only five that went with on the space experiment, including Victor. Just before Amera switched off the computer that she was using to access the net, she took a look through the daily news and noticed a lot of reports of high-profile crimes that were spreading around the globe. There were no suspects, and the news reports didn't include much about what was stolen. Amera shook it off and switched off the computer, thinking she could look it up another day when there was faster internet available for her to look through at speed. Amera stood up and stretched, noticing it was already dark outside. She decided to talk a walk through the house, looking at all the changes from her world. There wasn't much difference, other than the obvious lack of technology and gadgets. Amera headed towards the lounge when she noticed a door that wasn't there in her world. She opened it and saw a staircase leading up towards the roof. She went upstairs and arrived on the roof, which also looked a lot different than in her world. There was a pool; a Zen garden; a host of plants and a deck that had a barbecue; dining table with a marquee over it and some deckchairs near the pool side. Amera stared in awe at the way they had done the roof over. She decided it wouldn't hurt much to relax on one of the deckchairs and walked over to them. Only once she was near the chairs did she realise there was someone already there. Johnny was lying on one of the deckchairs, his hands behind his head, staring into the semi-dark sky above. Amera froze for a second before Johnny turned his head and noticed her; she couldn't help but fumble her words.

"I'm sorry; I'll go somewhere else…" Amera said, starting to backtrack away from him. He sat upright and frowned at her.

"You're welcome to join me; I'm not going to bite." He smiled at her, and she felt slightly more at ease around him. Amera walked over to the deckchair and sat on the edge, smiling at him.

"You know, now that I have a closer look, you do look a lot younger than Am…Maria." Johnny said to Amera, still looking at her with a curious grin.

"I guess that's what happens when you mess with time travel and stuff…" Amera finished awkwardly, knowing that she hadn't mentioned anything about time travel earlier. He smiled at Amera's confused face and shrugged, lying back down on the deckchair.

"Reed and Susan filled me in on the whole parallel planet thing…don't worry about it." He laughed, and Amera couldn't help but grin back at him. Amera lay down on her deckchair and stared into the sky as well.

"Why do you guys call the other me Maria? It's my second name, why did I…she change it?" Amera asked, and Johnny shook his head back at her.

"She started using it after she started dating Reed…I don't know why." Johnny shrugged and Amera nodded. At least it would be easier to differentiate between the two of them when someone spoke to them.

"So, where do you come from? Time and place I mean?" Johnny asked Amera, and she answered without looking at him.

"2009, but still pretty much living in New York."

"Are you really from another planet, or are you like a clone of Amera?" Johnny asked again, and Amera couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm pretty sure I'm from another planet. I didn't go to university with you; in fact I only met you about five years ago… by _yo_u I mean the other Johnny." Amera stuttered out; she was losing track of her time and planet; meeting and knowing the same people on this planet confused her at times.

"Anyway, why are you up here so late?" Amera asked Johnny. He dropped his one arm to look over at Amera and smiled.

"I like to come up here and think…and I'm just waiting for Alicia to get home."

Amera's eyes shot right open, but she couldn't help but ask.

"You're dating Alicia? Alicia Masters?"

"Yep, been engaged for about six months." He answered without even thinking. Amera tried to wipe the shocked expression off her face, remembering that she was on a separate planet and things were _a lot_ different.

"So, what are you thinking about? I mean, you are up here…so you must be thinking of _something_…" Amera asked again, and he let out a deep sigh.

"The story Reed told earlier, about the six of us…it kinda cuts deep when I think of it."

Amera sat silently now, even though she wanted to ask more questions; she was afraid that she might upset Johnny if she asked one more thing. Amera started feeling a little uncomfortable, leaving the conversation the way it was, before Johnny spoke again.

"So what really brought you here in the first place? I mean, I know about the wormhole thing, but why _you_?"

"Well, after we had discovered the wormhole, we came to the conclusion that for it to work like time travel, you have to go through it at the speed of light…seen as though I'm the only one that can…I volunteered." Amera shrugged, and Johnny shot upright.

"No way! You can travel at the speed of light? How? Is that a power you got from the experiment?" He spoke so quickly Amera barely caught the gist of what he was saying. Amera sat up to see his excited face; she knew he would flip when she showed him her powers.

"Oh yeah. I can do more than just travel at the speed of light. It's only _one_ of the powers I got from the experiment. I can manipulate and phase into six main elements and read technology…it's hard to explain." Amera stuttered out under Johnny's intense gaze. He smiled at her, looking like the Johnny she remembered.

"Come on, I wanna see them." He asked Amera and she nodded in compliance.

"I can only show you a fraction of what I can actually do…before I cause any damage up here."

He nodded for her to carry on anyway, eager to see what she could do.

"Well, here's metal…" Amera started, phasing her hand into metal. She showed it to him sitting across from her; he looked shocked as he saw her hand, but looked eager to see more.

"…and air…" Amera made a little whirlwind in the palm of her hand, before disappearing completely and making a larger whirlwind across the deck. She spun herself back together and phased straight into water. Johnny watched her like she was part of the most fascinating sci-fi movie he'd ever seen.

"…water…" Amera said again, manipulating the water of the pool to spin into a maelstrom before freezing it in mid spin.

"…earth…" She phased into red granite, and shifted the sands in the Zen garden nearby. Johnny was looking excited as she went on with all her powers.

"…light, which is a debateable element but I guess it counts…" She started glowing in her light form, and she could see the wonder in Johnny's eyes. Amera couldn't wait to see how he'd react when she phased into his favourite element. Amera walked over to the edge of the building and got up on the half-wall. Johnny jumped up, a panicked look on his face; but he still stood by his chair, watching Amera like she was a suicide jumper.

"Amera, what are you doing?" He asked cautiously and carefully.

"Calm down, this is the fun one. You got something like this on my planet…" Amera said, and fell backwards off the building. She heard Johnny screaming obscenities at her, so she knew he would be surprised. Amera flamed up and flew back up to the roof, only to see his shocked face as she flew over his head and hovered above him.

"…and this is fire. Johnny has a form similar to this one, but he burns orange instead of yellow." Amera finished, and turned back to normal, landing on the deck softly. She unfroze the water of the pool in an instant, causing little waves on the surface. Johnny stared at Amera in awe, trying to keep his mouth closed.

"Wow… this is surreal! Are we…like superheroes on your planet or something?"

"Yeah, we're some of the world's greatest…the first family of superheroes." Amera smiled at him, and he looked astounded.


	7. Day 2

Amera woke up fairly late, according to the alarm clock next to her bed. She automatically rolled over to reach out for Johnny, but he wasn't there. She awoke fully and shot upright, looking around and realizing she was in an empty room, a room that looked familiar. Amera shook her head and realised that she was still on the other Earth, and she was in her room alone. Amera sighed to herself and got up; heading to the adjoining bathroom and showering quickly. She then went over to the sink and saw a toothbrush, toothpaste and a hairbrush laid out there for her. She gazed out the bathroom door quickly and saw a few piles of clothes on the dresser. She didn't notice them when she came in the night before from the roof, but she was almost certain that Susan had put everything there for her. Amera smiled and carried on brushing her teeth and hair, before slipping into her Fantastic suit. She smelt something sweet and flowery; Susan had washed her suit. Amera shook her head and laughed at how similar the two Susan's were. She put on some of the clothes that were on the dresser; a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt, just to hide her Fantastic suit. She headed out into the lounge and saw Johnny watching the news, and Reed and Susan sitting at the table having breakfast.

"Morning guys." Amera said automatically.

"Morning Amera, sleep well?" Susan asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah, thanks for the clothes…and washing my Fantastic suit." Amera said, and Susan smiled at her and nodded over to the kitchen.

"You can have your pick of breakfast; everything is either in the fridge or pantry." Susan directed her. Amera nodded to Susan and headed through into the pantry, and got a box of cereal. She then got herself a bowl, and the milk. As she headed out of the pantry, Susan and Reed were standing away from the dining table.

"We're heading to the office, Amera. I trust we'll see you there later?" Reed asked her, and she nodded vigorously. Reed and Susan headed to the elevator, and Amera sat at the dining table. Johnny was still watching the news, paying close attention to whatever the news reporter was talking about.

"What's on the news this morning?" Amera asked Johnny, and he shrugged.

"This reporter is into conspiracies. There are all these high-profile crimes happening across the globe, and she's convinced that they're connected to some world-wide threat…"

Amera almost laughed, until she saw the reporter. She was the same reporter that had dubbed them as the Fantastic Five on her planet and stuck with them through all the official press conferences. Amera smiled and took her bowl of cereal to the couch, taking a seat next to Johnny.

"You know, she's not that bad. She's our favourite reporter on my planet. She always gives us great reviews…" Amera joked, and Johnny laughed with her.

"Damn, you're actually still _funny_…" Johnny smiled at her and she frowned.

"Is the other me not funny anymore?"

"Not since she married Reed, she's into sarcasm and smarts…" Johnny shrugged and turned back to the screen. Amera finished up with her cereal and stood up, looking down to Johnny.

"Aren't you supposed to be going to work too?"

"Nah, I only work when I have to. The wonderful part of my job." He smiled up at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Ok, well I'm heading to…Von Doom Industries. I'll see you later." Amera waved to him, and he waved back. She headed downstairs and got a cab to Von Doom Industries, as flying there would attract too much attention. She walked through the same security checks as the day before, and headed up to Reed's lab. Amera couldn't remember the code Reed had entered to open the doors once she was at the top, so she just opened them with a technopathy jolt. Reed was there already, and leered over at her as she came into the lab.

"Ah, I was thinking that was you." He looked her over once, and then looked back to the screen in front of him.

"I've been looking over these plans you left here, and there are a few things mentioned here that we don't have on premises."

Amera walked over to him and looked at the plans. Herbie had highlighted the items that were missing or in short supply. She turned to Reed and smiled.

"I've still got a while before the time runs out. I could find the stuff…"

"You could try, but some of these things…are harder to find than others." Reed answered, and looked at the screen again. Amera looked at the screen too and saw plutonium on the list; she knew it would be rather hard to find.

"Uhm…ok, that's going to be tough to get…" Amera still looked at the screen, slightly stumped.

"I can get it, but what do you need it for?" Reed asked, starting to look at Amera suspiciously again.

"It generates power for the core. The detector draws massive amounts of power, and we kept tripping the city grid without it." Amera answered, and she could see Reed ease up a bit. The elevator pinged open and Susan came in behind them, looking at her curiously.

"So…would it be wrong of me to ask exactly what your powers are? Yesterday, with Herbie and all that…was kind of weird."

Amera turned around to look at Susan and even though she did look curious, she looked scared too.

"I thought Johnny would've told you, I did tell him about them last night."

"Well, he did mention all your wonderful powers, but that doesn't explain the computer…" Susan shrugged. Amera almost slapped her forehead; she had only told Johnny about her technopathic powers, but she didn't show him. He must've forgotten to mention it after being shocked from all her other powers. Amera looked back at Reed and Susan; they must've thought she was some type of master hacker when she used her powers the day before.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about that. I thought you would've figured it out, but I suppose it's slightly harder to figure it out when you've never seen it before." Amera explained, and both Reed and Susan diverted their eyes to her as she started to explain.

"Well, other than what Johnny told you, I have another power that Reed dubbed as _technopathic_ powers. I communicate with and control data; technology; satellites; cars; TVs…pretty much anything that runs on programmable code." Amera explained in the simplest terms that she knew and Reed and Susan looked shocked yet again.

"And your other powers? I mean, Johnny told us what they were, but how well do you control them?" Susan asked cautiously, like Amera was a threat to the security of the nation.

"Excellently…considering no one taught me how to use them." Amera smiled at Susan, but she didn't ease up much. Amera shook it off and turned back to Reed, looking at the list once again for the detector.

"I can build it myself, I just need the materials. I did it once, I can probably do it better the second time around." Amera said, still looking at the screen. Reed stared at her in awe and shook his head.

"I can get the materials, and I know you have these special powers, but I don't think you can build _this_ in three weeks; it'll take at least three months." Reed sounded like he was almost scolding her, and Amera's looked down at Reed and smiled.

"Well, you haven't seen what I can do. If I have the stuff, I can build it in less than three days." Amera nodded, sounded a tad defiant against Reed.

Reed looked a little taken back, and Susan looked like she was about to burst out laughing. Amera knew Reed was somewhat stubborn, he was on her planet too, but things were different with superpowers in the equation.

"I'll…put in the orders for these things. You can build it in the lab…" Reed answered and started typing in some orders. Susan walked over to Amera and smiled, whispering to her softly.

"I've never seen anyone talk back to Reed like that, not even Maria. You must be a little firecracker on your planet…"

"Not all the time, but I do give my fair share of hassles." Amera smiled, and Susan laughed with her.


	8. Day 4

Amera was sitting in Reed's lab at Von Doom Industries; she was bored as she was there alone. Herbie was showing her some of the daily news, and some other information she had asked him to show. Amera eventually couldn't take much more boredom and decided to investigate more about the major crime spree happening across the planet. Amera put her hand on the console, and sifted through the internet for more information. She was grateful that there was faster internet at the lab; having access to the faster internet was a breeze, as she easily went in and out of military databases with classified information about the high-profile crimes. She bought up a few screens that she thought were relevant to each other and looked at them, trying to figure out a pattern of occurrences. Just before she thought she had it figured out, the elevator pinged open behind her, and a flurry of footsteps came into the lab.

"Those supplies that we ordered just arrived…now we can start building the detector." Reed said. Amera turned around to thank him for all his trouble, when she came face to face with herself; Maria, her counterpart on this planet. She and Maria mirrored each other with their shocked expressions; but to see another one of each other _was_ a shock. Amera could see the visible differences; Maria looked a little older than Amera, had straight cut dark blonde hair with straight bangs and dressed much more professionally than Amera did; but other than that they were the same. In Amera's peripheral vision, she saw Ben; a _human_ Ben. She immediately ran up to him and hugged him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

"Well, she's _the_ Amera…the one I was telling you about that came through the wormhole." Reed explained to Ben and Maria above Amera's head. Amera pulled back from Ben, slightly embarrassed that she hugged him so suddenly, considering they weren't relatives from the same planet.

"I'm sorry Ben, I just…I haven't seen you like _this_ in a long time…it's rather strange." Amera said, gesturing to him entirely. Ben laughed at Amera's embarrassment, and nodded down at her.

"Hey, it's ok. We're practically family."

Amera smiled back up at him, feeling safe now that she knew he was around. She knew that she was probably _way_ stronger than he was, with him still being human, but the comfort was automatic with him around. Maria still had her eyes on Amera, looking at her with awe and wonder.

"You know, when Reed told me that there was another me in the lab, I almost didn't believe him…but, wow…you're _real_! If you need _anything_, anything at all, just let me know." Maria said to Amera quickly. Amera smiled at Maria; it was good to see that their values remained the same, helping out wherever they could.

"Thanks…Maria. I'll keep that in mind." Amera stuttered out her own second name awkwardly to Maria. Maria stepped forward, wrapping Amera in a hug. Amera smiled, hugging Maria back; they were both still huggers and they still hugged they same way. Maria pulled back with a smile, and nodded to Amera.

"What is it exactly that you're researching, Amera?" Maria asked, pointing to the screen behind Amera. She had stuttered her own first name as awkwardly as Amera had her second name.

"Oh, I was looking into the high-profile crime spree. The more I look into it, the more I think that the team that went up with Victor has something to do with it. There are just so many things that don't seem to add up to _normal_ physics…" Amera said, and Reed looked at the screens as well.

"Where did you get some of this? I'm pretty sure these aren't excerpts from the daily news…" Reed wondered out loud, looking closer at the reports.

"Some military institutes…don't worry, I've done it before on my planet, they don't pick up on anything…" Amera added the last half quickly as she saw three shocked faces looking at her.

"You got in and out multiple military institutes without being detected? That's amazing! That must be the technopathic abilities Reed was talking about…" Maria said and Amera couldn't help but nod.

"Well, they don't pick up on anything because I _disguise_ myself as normal programming code…they never even see any activity." Amera explained, and Reed looked shocked and amazed at once. Before Reed or Amera could carry on talking, Amera heard a buzzing noise; Maria looked at her phone, and then turned to Reed again.

"I have to go to the press conference; I'll see you all at home?" Maria asked, looking at Amera especially. Ben and Amera nodded in agreement, and Maria kissed Reed goodbye before heading to the elevator. Amera got shivers at the sight of the two of them kissing, but she remembered that she had to hold her tongue about their relationships. Amera turned to Ben again, who was smiling down at her.

"I'm sorry about hugging you so suddenly, I just…it's been a while since I could actually get my arms around you." Amera explained to Ben, and he smiled down at her again.

"Hey, I said don't worry about, cuz." He smiled again, and Amera smiled at him referring to her fondly as his cousin.

"Like I said earlier, Amera comes from a parallel planet where we went with on Victor's space experiment…and we ended up with the powers." Reed said, still looking at the screen with all the military info Amera had borrowed. Ben turned to Amera again, putting his hand on her shoulder and leading her to two chairs just underneath the protective cocoon.

"Well, why don't you tell me about your planet? Sure sounds like fun." Ben laughed, and Amera couldn't help but laugh at how normal his voice sounded.


	9. Day 7

Amera was sitting in the lab with all the materials she needed, busy building the wormhole detector. She sat with all the pieces around her, already cut to shape and size, laying in perfect order for assembling. She was busy manipulating more metal for the last few pieces, and then started building the core. Amera phased herself into lead, as she did before on her planet for assembly the radioactive core. She assembled the core reactor carefully and placed it in the centre of all the other pieces, ready to weld it all together. Before she started, the elevator opened and Reed came into the lab, seeing Amera sitting on the floor with all the pieces around her.

"When you said three days, I thought you were bluffing…but I see now you weren't." Reed said, sitting on his swivel chair and watching her. Amera had already told him several times that she didn't need any help, only because she didn't have help building it on her planet either. It was easier to work the metal by herself, without anyone to get in the way of potential harm.

"Well, you're just in time for the final assembly. After that, I'm just going to install some basic programming and hand it over to Herbie to start coding further…" Amera said, getting to her feet and standing back. She put her hands forward slowly, and the pieces of metal flew up into the air, hovering in an exploded view of the dish. They came together little by little, just so Amera could see if everything was coming together properly. The pieces melted together seamlessly, and the final detector dish hovered down to the floor. Reed stood up, his mouth open but in a smile, looking at the dish.

"That was amazing! Now I see why you said you could do it in three days."

Amera quickly loaded a custom operating system and then turned to Reed.

"All done. Now it's just up to Herbie to add the code I gave him and run the diagnostics."

Reed walked around the dish, observing Amera's handiwork, looking at all the fine details meticulously.

"So whose plan was this exactly? I mean the wormhole detector." Reed frowned at Amera, and she shrugged.

"Well it was Reed's idea, of course. He's been hoping to find a wormhole for ages. We had worked through all the theories, and we hoped it would work like time travel…and here I am." Amera gestured to herself and Reed smiled.

"So you made everything on your planet as well?" He asked again, without looking to Amera this time.

"No, I just put it together and coded it. It was Reed's plan, idea and coding…he is the brains of the group after all." Amera answered, and Reed smiled widely at her referring to him as the smartest of the group.

"So when is the wormhole due to open again?" Reed asked once again, this time he moved away from the dish and headed to his console.

"About 13 days and 10 hours. Give or take." Amera answered; a projection screen popped up behind her with a time estimate.

"So you're technopathic…that must be quite fun. Can you really communicate with _any_ technology?" Reed asked again, looking from the screen and to Amera, sitting in his swivel chair and looking up at her.

"Pretty much. I haven't had any problems yet…except for Herbie shocking me the first time…" Amera thought back to the first time, and remembered how shocked Herbie was to have someone on the system.

"Herbie shocked you? I guess he thought you were some kind of virus…" Reed answered nonchalantly.

"That's what I said…and once Reed loaded my DNA code onto the system, it never happened again. That's why I asked you to do it first over here."

Reed spun away from Amera in his swivel chair, talking more to himself than to her.

"I somehow knew technopathic abilities were possible…I just never knew what a human would have to do to actually get them…" Reed muttered, and started typing on the console.

"Oh, well, Herbie's done coding the detector…" Amera said, looking over at it and switching it on. It ran its initial diagnostics and started scanning the skies. Herbie linked up to the detector, and updated Amera's time estimate by only a few minutes. Reed nodded over at Amera, impressed by her previous estimate. Amera walked over to the console and looked down at Reed, trying to get his attention.

"I've been looking closer into those mysterious crimes around the world…and the more I think about it, the more I think Victor's team are the ones behind it." Amera said, and Reed looked up at her immediately. Amera turned to the projection screens and brought up her theories.

"Most of these crimes have some things in common…metal frozen so cold that it shatters; impossible vaults to open; explosions that show no source of reagents…which lead me to the next source…the team that got the powers and the powers that they got." Amera turned to another set of screens, and brought up the four individuals that got the powers, as well as Victor.

"They have powers that correlate with those incidents. Nyla; the woman geneticist, she got some form of cold generating abilities. Snow, blizzards, freezing objects that she touches…" Amera explained, and Reed spun around his chair, looking at the screens.

"I know of the powers they got, I just never had this much information of the crimes." Reed got up from his chair and walked over to her, still looking at the screens.

"You know, come to think of it, Victor has been acting strange lately. He won't receive any appointments, and he let me order all the materials for the detector without question…" Reed looked down at Amera, and she could recognize the fear of the unknown on his face.


	10. Day 10 - Part 1

Maria and Amera were sitting at the dining table, discussing themselves over breakfast. They listed all the things that were different off the top of their heads, except for their age and looks.

"I went to Cambridge on a scholarship. I studied biogenetics, biological chemistry and bio-kinetics. I graduated summa cum laude, which I'm pretty happy with." Amera explained, and Maria smiled at her.

"Yeah, I wanted to study biology, but I was offered a scholarship in PR from Von Doom Industries. So now here I am, PRO of Von Doom Industries, always beautifying the screw-ups." Maria joked, and Amera couldn't help but laugh with her. They sat for a few more minutes, discussing other things that weren't too serious. Maria looked down at her watch and pushed herself away from the table, smiling at Amera.

"Well, I have to go to work now, I'll see you later." Maria nodded, and started walking towards the elevator.

"Have a nice day!" Amera called after her, and Maria nodded to her in thanks. Amera got up from the dining table and sat down in the lounge, switching on the television and watching the morning news. She heard footsteps approaching and then saw Johnny appear beside her, smiling down at her. Amera looked up at him, and nodded at him to speak.

"So what are you planning on doing for the rest of the day?" Johnny asked.

"Not much, really." Amera smiled.

"I was planning on going out for the day. Want to join me?" Johnny smiled at Amera, and she sat back and thought about it for a second.

"Sure, I'd like that. I rarely get any days off." Amera nodded and got up from the couch. He smiled at her and they headed to the elevator. They didn't stop on the garage floor as Amera expected, but instead they headed out to the street and caught a cab. Johnny leant forward and spoke to the cab driver.

"Central Park, please."

They sat in silence for the drive through to Central Park; Amera guessed that they were both too afraid to say anything in case the cab driver caught onto anything. They got out of the cab, and Amera immediately started talking again.

"So what job do you have that allows such lenient work hours?" She asked, and Johnny hooked his thumbs onto the edge of his jean pockets.

"I'm a drone pilot at Von Doom Industries. I don't work a steady 9 to 5, but I work really long hours when there's something going on." He explained to her, leading her down a path of Central Park. Amera looked around and noticed the setting seemed familiar; but she couldn't be really sure if it was just because she had walked through Central Park so many times before.

"Hey Johnny, where are we going?" Amera asked, and he carried on leading her.

"My favourite spot in the park. I come here every now and again to relax and do some…thinking." He finished awkwardly, and glanced at Amera sideways. He then spotted a bench and smiled, before walking over to it and sitting down. Amera stood back, looking around the park before sitting down next to him. People barely noticed Amera, and if they did, they didn't stop to talk. It was quite refreshing to her not to be bothered so much. Amera turned to Johnny and he was smiling to himself, looking out over the baseball diamonds through the trees.

"So, why this bench? Any particular reason?" Amera asked, and Johnny shrugged casually.

"I like watching the people go by…" Johnny left his sentence hanging, and looked over at her.

"Why do you ask? Come here often on your planet?" He asked her. Amera sat back, thinking whether or not she should answer, given the past with him and Maria. He carried on eyeing her until she answered.

"Yeah, good memories right here…" Amera answered, not being too specific while she patted the bench. Johnny frowned at her, knowing that wasn't the entire story.

"Ok, I find it weird that you picked this very bench in the park…" She stammered out eventually.

"Why do you say that?" He smiled at her.

"Johnny and I…he proposed to me on this bench. The one on my planet is a bit charred, but I remember it."

Johnny laughed; awkwardly and half-heartedly and looked away from her, staring into the space between the trees.

"Looks like us _Johnny's_ might not be so different after all…" He sighed, wringing his fingers into one another before looking down at his hands. His shoulders dropped, and he went quiet for a while before looking up again at the baseball diamonds.

"Why…do you say you and the other Johnny are so similar?" Amera asked quietly, hoping not to stir up too many negative emotions. Johnny sat back again, holding his head up, but still looking at the field across from them.

"A few months before Maria and I split, I was…thinking about…proposing to her. Right here, actually. I was even stupid enough to buy a ring…" Johnny sighed, and his usually persistent smile dropped from his face. Amera's mouth automatically snapped open; her heart broke at the thought of what Johnny had prepared for and didn't have a chance to do.

"Did…did Maria ever know?" Amera asked, and he shrugged.

"It wouldn't have mattered anyway. She and Reed had already met and made up their minds…" Johnny sighed, and swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry…that things went the way they did." She muttered out almost uselessly.

"Some things can't be helped, Amera."

Amera knew she should immediately drop the subject of the two of them, and distract him with something else.

"Stand up." Amera ordered him while standing up onto her own feet. He complied quickly, although looking slightly perplexed.

"Are you willing to fly? And I'm not talking planes either."

"What do you mean…?" He stuttered out quickly, but soon enough he was floating. Amera smiled to herself as she saw his astonished expression, looking at the ground mere feet below him. Amera flamed up, burning off her everyday clothes to reveal her Fantastic suit underneath. Johnny was still looking at her, waiting for an explanation.

"There's a lot of water in the human body…it's easy to make someone fly." Amera smiled, lifting off the ground slowly and taking Johnny along for a joyride.


	11. Day 10 - Part 2

Amera flew slowly through the sky, letting Johnny get used to the wind. She tried her best not to leave a fire trial behind, as it would attract too much attention. Johnny was so in awe, he barely spoke. Amera flew out to the harbour, and landed on the old pier where Johnny had taken her to many times before.

"Ever been here?" Amera asked, gesturing to the abandoned warehouses around them. Johnny looked around, a smile back on his face as he recognized it.

"Yeah, I used to come here in high school. Best place for a late night hangout. Not the same way I remember it though…" Johnny frowned, looking at the pier covered in seagull waste. Amera looked over the pier and nodded, causing a wave to hop onto it, swirling around for a few seconds before dissipating through the cracks, taking every drop of water with it and leaving the pier dry. Johnny shook his head in amazement as he walked over the pier, smiling to himself.

"Those powers sure must be fun to play with. I know I'd be at it all day." Johnny laughed and sat on the edge of the pier. Amera followed his lead, and sat next to him on the end, looking out over the Hudson River.

"So…you and Johnny didn't meet in college. How did you meet?" Johnny asked Amera suddenly, and she was caught off guard. Amera started thinking about the first day they had met, and how to explain it to the Johnny next to her.

"Well, Johnny and I only met the day of the space launch. We didn't exactly get along at first; I tripped and fell into him, and he thought it was a publicity stunt…"

Johnny raised his eyebrows for a second before she carried on.

"…after a while, we called a truce. Then we got along better, and even became something like competitive friends. We also ended up together because if it…" Amera smiled at the end, thinking of the first time Johnny kissed her; the night after the silly video game bet. Johnny looked at her curiously, and smiled.

"Well, is there more to the story?" Johnny joked, looking at Amera under her hair. Amera wiped the smile off her face and carried on.

"One night, Johnny and I made a bet that one could beat the other at some video game. I won, but I teased him for a bit. He tackled me to the ground, and wouldn't let me go…he tried to kiss me, but the others got home before he could. The next day however, he sure made up for it…" Amera smiled with a blush, and she knew that could figure out what she meant. Johnny sat back; he looked perplexed, thinking of the reasons why he and Maria couldn't have gone the same way. Amera carried on talking, just to distract him.

"Johnny is a little over the top, spontaneous…we got together about a month before he proposed to me…but we sure are making up for it afterwards." Amera laughed, thinking of how long they had waited before even thinking of a wedding.

"You were only together for a month? Wow, the other Johnny is _really_ spontaneous…" Johnny gasped, looking out over the water.

"Well, he justifies it with the fact that we knew each other for almost three years…we are the best friends that the other has of the opposite gender; mainly because Johnny was a player and I kept getting played. Besides, we've been engaged for two years and I think that makes up for it a little." Amera explained a little fast, hoping Johnny caught most of it. He smiled and looked over to her.

"Do you mind if I see it…your engagement ring?"

Amera hesitated for one moment, thinking she really shouldn't upset him anymore, but refusing would probably be worse than just showing it to him. Amera lifted her hand over her lap and showed him her ring. He smiled as he laid eyes on it, taking her hand and examining it a little closer.

"It's beautiful…almost like the one I bought Maria, but it had much smaller diamond…internship didn't pay much." He smiled again, not looking as sad as Amera thought he would. Amera slid her hand gently from his grasp and smiled back at him.

"So how doesn't it melt? Or you know, fall off in one of your other elements? Is it the same as that weird suit?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, the suit and my ring are more or less the same explanation. Reed charged them with unstable molecules, so that they can absorb and duplicate energy. So it can change elements with me. Everything we own has been charged with unstable molecules, or we'd be burning the place down every other week."

Johnny laughed, and looked away from Amera. He kept quiet for a while, staring at a black ship just coming into the harbour.

"It sure sounds like a fun job you have in your world…" Johnny spat out eventually, looking over to her.

"It is fun, at times; except for people trying to kill us all the time." Amera shrugged, and Johnny nodded at her. They watched the same black ship go across the harbour slowly, until Amera started scrutinizing it.

"Is that the Von Doom Industries logo on the side of that ship?" Amera asked, pointing to a barely there dark green logo on the back of the ship.

"Yeah. Strange; as far as I know there aren't any shipments coming in…" Johnny frowned, looking at it in confusion.

"Maybe a shipment went out?" Amera asked, and Johnny shook his head to that too.

"Victor doesn't tell us a lot of things lately. I'm guessing that's one of them." Johnny shrugged, looking away from the ship and back to Amera. Amera smiled mischievously and stood up.

"Mind if we go have a look?" She asked him, and he stood up as well.

"I guess. I suppose going with a superhero will ensure my safety a little."

Amera jumped off the pier and into the water without a second thought, landing in a neat domed bubble in the water, and then looked up a Johnny still standing on the pier. He followed her lead, and landed in the bubble next to her. They started going under the water, until the air bubble was completely submerged and the light from above us was murky. Amera could sense the high concentration of metals coming from the ship, so tracking it with no visual cue wasn't a problem. Once they had reached the ship's hull, Amera lifted them out of the water and up alongside the ship. Johnny didn't seem as nervous or flabbergasted the second she lifted him up using the water in his body. Amera peeled a panel of the ship's hull away, and dropped the two of them onto the floor inside. What they saw inside was something they hadn't seen before, but Johnny frowned as he looked at some of the things.

"Well I'll be damned…" Johnny gasped, walking over to one mean looking piece of machinery.

"What is it, Johnny? Have you seen this stuff before?" Amera asked, looking carefully at some other things.

"Some of these are military-grade weapons. These ones in particular…they've never been distributed to the military. Some of them never even made past the testing phase. If Victor has these…he has to be up to something bad." Johnny finished, and Amera swallowed hard.


	12. Day 11

Johnny and Amera had agreed to tell the others about what they had seen on the ship, but only once they had theorised what had happened for themselves. Amera sat up almost all night thinking of what Victor was planning; thinking of the same deviousness that crept its way from her world and into this one. Johnny knocked on her door fairly early, and she still had no idea what to tell the others. Amera answered the door, and Johnny looked almost as nervous as what she thought they both felt.

"Any idea what to say?" He asked as he walked in the door.

"I don't know…I'll just wing it. They're smart enough to figure it out."

"Well, they're all in the lounge at the moment if you want to start…" He shrugged at Amera. She nodded and followed him down the hallway and to the lounge. Reed and Maria were at the table, having breakfast, while Ben and Susan were sitting in the lounge. Amera took a deep breath, and walked to a spot in the lounge where they could all see her.

"Hey guys…I have something to say…I'm still working it out myself, so forgive me if it doesn't make sense at first." Amera announced rather loudly. Johnny stood next to her, and suddenly four pairs of eyes were on them. Amera could tell by their faces that they were suspecting something happening between Johnny and her; she wished things could've been that easy to explain.

"Johnny and I went down to the pier yesterday…I was explaining my world and our powers to him, when we saw a Von Doom ship come into harbour…" Amera started, and Susan immediately frowned.

"There aren't supposed to be any shipments coming in for another few weeks…" Susan said rather anxiously, and Johnny answered.

"That's what I said…but what we found isn't anything Von Doom buys or sells…" Johnny answered his sister quickly before turning back to Amera to carry on.

"We found weapons on board. I don't know much about the weapons development in this world, but from what Johnny told me, none of those weapons are even legal…"

Reed and Maria laid eyes on each other, and then on Susan and Ben, and they all looked as suspicious as Amera knew they should be.

"Those military reports that you got from the other day…they didn't mention what was stolen, did they?" Maria asked Amera, and she shook her head.

"I don't think they would've anyway. Missing experimental weapons is enough to induce global panic. But I wouldn't put it past Victor…the other team that went into space with him has powers that correspond with those crimes."

"What could they possibly be planning to do? Victor has all the money he'd need, and all the business he could ever hope for…" Susan said, more to herself and Ben than to Amera.

"Victor must be planning something big…taking the country in a coup? Holding the resources for higher demand…I don't know. Either way, we have to make sure it doesn't happen…" Amera looked over to Johnny and gestured him to sit on the couch next to Susan and Ben. Maria and Reed came over to the couch as Amera's face went even more serious, and she spoke to them.

"I have an idea how we can stop this. Reed and I theorized a way to cure Ben for temporary amounts of time on my planet; but we always had the same problem. We could only store cosmic radiation for a minute at best, before we had to put it back into Ben. This could work on the other team; we could take their cosmic radiation and give it to someone more responsible…like you guys."

All five of their faces were stuck exactly the same way; pure shock. Amera knew having powers was a huge responsibility, and she knew they thought so too, but some things needed to be done.

"I know it's hard to comprehend. Victor is trying to do something immensely evil, and you could either be implicated as accomplices or lose your jobs. But I have the solution; for you to become the heroes you are, like on my planet. If the other team lost their powers, they could never do anything like this again and you would have to powers to stop any other bad things from happening over here." Amera explained as best she could, and she could see the puzzle pieces fitting together in their heads. Amera sat on the coffee table, to seem less intimidating and authoritarian to them, and explained a little more.

"I know they're hard to deal with…they're not a walk in the park. Your lives will change, everything will change…but it gets easier after a while. This is your chance to be something no one else is…superheroes. The first superhero family in the world."

Their faces all seemed different now. Ben's looked rather anxious; Amera had told him what happened to him in her world, and she knew he was thinking it would happen to him too. Susan, Maria and Reed all looked worried and scrutinising, thinking of all the possible pros and cons of receiving the radiation. Johnny looked excited, like Amera knew he would be; she knew he was thinking of flying and playing with his fire form. Reed stood up straight and looked at Amera.

"This device you can build…it can only work on relay storage, correct?" He asked, considering any other options.

"Yes. Cosmic radiation is way too powerful and volatile to store for any longer. It has to be transferred out again." Amera answered, and Reed nodded, knowing the finality of the decision that they would have to make. Susan got up from next to Ben, and looked down at Amera sitting on the coffee table.

"We'll have to think about it, Amera. This isn't an easy decision for us to make, we'll need a little time."

"I understand, Susan. I'll head to the lab and start working on the radiation extractor anyway." Amera nodded at them and headed to her room. She slipped into her Fantastic suit and dematerialised, seeping through the window seams and out into the city air. She rematerialised, hovering in mid-air for a moments before bolting through the air as a thin light beam.


	13. Day 12

Amera was in Reed's lab yet again, still working on the radiation extractor. She had fashioned the left over metals and plutonium into a small handheld gun, with a trigger for ease. The chamber was made out of a special aluminium oxide glass that she had borrowed from Reed's facilities; she was sure he wouldn't mind. Amera finished up with the last of the adjustments and added the plutonium core. She sealed it up and placed it in a locked cabinet that no one could ever possibly find. Amera stood up, clearing the floor of the lab before Reed came back. As she finished placing the sheets of metal out of the way, the elevator chimed open and Reed and the others entered the lab. Amera momentarily stood still, as Susan and Reed both looked like they had something very serious to say.

"We've reached a decision about the cosmic radiation." Reed said very confidently, and Amera hoped they had reached the answer that would help everything.

"We've decided to go through with it. If it means we stop whatever Victor is planning, we're willing to do it." Susan added, and gave a deep sigh of relief of having just answered Amera's curious stare. Amera gave a responding sigh of relief, grateful that there would be trustworthy people receiving the radiation.

"That's great guys. I have something you could use, if it would make you more comfortable…" Amera said, gesturing to a few screens that popped up.

"Herbie, please accept any data coming your way. I'm a little new to this too, so bear with me." Amera said quickly. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her memories of their abilities, and sent them through to Herbie. Herbie hesitated for a minute and then spoke to Amera.

"Well, that was very new to me indeed. Should I show each of their abilities to them separately?" Herbie asked.

"Yes, if you'd please Herbie. Give them each a screen and use only their individual footage."

Five screens hovered in front of the others, each showing different footage from Amera's memories of her planet. Each one showed detailed footage of what each of them could do; Amera was watching their reactions closely as they examined the footage.

"I was going to use this as a last ditch effort to convince you that there was another planet where I cam from, but I figured it would also be useful as an exhibit of your abilities."

The others all looked amazed, but Maria looked a little lost as all the footage was from Amera's point of view. Amera walked over to Maria and grabbed her shoulder sympathetically.

"It's a bit hard to understand my powers from this footage, maybe I could show you in a few days?" Amera explained and Maria nodded.

"That sounds good. It might be better to understand that way." Maria said, and Amera turned to the others.

"I suggest you study the footage closely, you might be able to pick up on some tips from the others." Amera said, and Reed turned to her nodding.

"Thank you Amera, this might just work after all."

Amera nodded, heading to the console and sitting down again.

"Glad to help."


	14. Day 14

Amera woke up with a fright, but she had no idea what from. She spun around, looking around her room wildly, when she heard a noise again. It was rather loud and shocked shouting coming from the lounge. Amera phased out her pyjamas, into her Fantastic suit and blew into the lounge in a matter of seconds. The others were all sitting in the lounge, watching TV. They noticed Amera materialise in front of them, but it didn't nearly faze them as much as what they were watching.

"What's happened?" Amera asked quickly, and Johnny jumped up to speak to her, not wanting to disturb the others.

"It's bad, just like you said. There is some international group that's released some kind of demand video. They want the presidency of the states handed over or they start destroying cities." Johnny explained in hushed tones. Amera quickly paused the live news with a technopathic jolt, and the others all turned to her.

"I just have to see this video …" Amera explained quickly, rewinding the stream. They didn't argue with her, and she replayed the footage. The demanders were all wearing balaclavas, but Amera chuckled a little.

"Ah, idiots…they shouldn't have used such an expensive camera." Amera laughed but the others didn't bother to ask her what she meant. She quickly adjusted the footage, picking up on colours through the knitting of the balaclavas and adjusted so that their real skin became visible. The person talking was a face she recognised, and one she already didn't like.

"It's Nyla, the woman that got the powers! I knew they were up to something." Amera huffed, turning around and switching the TV off in one second.

"We have to start working on some or other plan to stop these people. Start training maybe; I can explain as best I can what you can do with your powers so that when you receive your powers you will have an advantage." Amera sighed, not knowing exactly how she would explain their powers to them. Reed stood up and gestured for everyone to follow him.

"Let's get some fresh air while Amera explains the footage she showed us the other day. Maybe then she can explain how we first manifested these powers." Reed nodded to Amera and they followed Reed to the roof. Once they were out on the deck, they all took seat around the deck dining table and looked to Amera. Amera stayed standing, trying to work out how best to explain to them.

"Well, I think it might work different here than on my planet. You see the radiation changed our bodies over a few days, but with the others' radiation fully manifested, it might change you in a matter of seconds…" Amera started, and they looked all fine surprisingly enough. Amera nodded and carried on with a deep breath.

"We first noticed our powers in times of emotional stress. Reed and Susan first noticed theirs when they were arguing over something at lunch, about two days after the accident. Johnny burst into flames when he was dropped out of a helicopter and onto a skiing slope. I don't know how Ben manifested…he ran away before we could ask. But myself, well, we were averting disaster on Brooklyn Bridge and some of the cameras nearest me started losing footage. After that, they all manifested at once, and it made me pass out for a few minutes. But after that, my powers were fully developed." Amera explained, and the others nodded along as she spoke. She paused for a minute and pointed to her suit, while looking at Reed.

"These suits are made of unstable molecules. That way, they change with us. I think that you should get working on making some for the five of you."

Reed's eyes shot open, looking at Amera with surprise and shock.

"You completed the research on your planet?" He stuttered out, and Amera nodded.

"Well, Reed had some help from some colleagues and decent incentive to do it quickly." Amera remembered back to when they first found out about her and Johnny's powers potential volatility, and when Reed decided to finish his research on unstable molecules. She snapped her head back and looked to the others, and smiled softly.

"I can help you with the theory side of your powers, but once you have them, the use of them is completely up to you. You might not have time to play around with them once you receive the radiation, so that's why the theory is critical. We have to take Victor down as soon as we can."

The others all looked between each other, understanding the seriousness of what they were taking on. Susan looked at Amera and nodded.

"We'll start working with you one on one. I'll go first, whoever else can go after." Susan announced, standing up with Amera. The others all agreed with Susan; Ben stood up and gestured for all the others to do the same.

"We'll go back down into the loft. You guys can work alone and send Susan down when she's got it handled." Ben looked at Amera, and she smiled back up at him.

"Thanks, Ben. That's a good suggestion. See you guys later."

The others headed back down into the loft, leaving Amera and Susan sitting in the marquee at the table. Amera sat down next Susan, and folded her hands on the table.

"Alright, so I had the privilege of being Reed's science partner while we were all still testing our powers, so I have a bit of knowledge of how you control your powers…" Amera started. It went more or less the same with all the others; Amera explained to Reed about his elasticity and the unstable molecules and she explained to Ben about his strength and appearance. Next to last was Maria. Amera sat down with her and started explaining.

"First off, I'd much rather go through the powers with you in _actual_ training, but seen as though we can't do that…I can only ask you to be the last one to receive your powers. Victor seems to be the one controlling the others, and he does have the most volatile powers; so it would only be logical to give his radiation to you. I hope you understand, once this is done, you and I will go through this _properly_."

"I guess I don't really have a choice. There are five of them, and five of us…one of us have to go last." Maria smiled, and Amera put her hand on her shoulder, making sure it was a little cooler than her normal.

"I think two of us will be too much for anyone to handle anyway, don't you think? You and I can have that one on one tomorrow, the one I promised you; it'll be more fun than just the theory. I get to show off, and you get to watch." Amera joked, and Maria laughed with her. Maria stood up and headed to the stairwell, and within seconds the last one came up, Johnny.

"That was short…did you give her some data download or something?" Johnny smiled and Amera laughed.

"Hey, I can't do it on humans…although it's a brilliant idea for your cell phones."

Johnny was still laughing by the time that he sat down across from Amera. The sun was already going down, and the hazy dusk was made the city skyline orange.

"You're lucky Ben brought you lunch. It's almost dinner time and you haven't even taken a break." Johnny chuckled, putting his hands behind his head.

"I'm lucky Ben's still protective of his parallel cousin." Amera smiled at Johnny, and he quickly looked away, like something else caught his eye. Amera started talking; not paying attention to what Johnny was looking at.

"Your powers aren't too hard to explain, because they're also one of mine. The pyrokinesis is…amazing. You can heat your entire body to the point where your core is plasma so that nothing can physically injure you; you can fly by displacing heat underneath you and even fly hypersonic…" Amera explained. Johnny eventually turned to look at her and listened to all she said. As they were finishing off, Reed came back up the stairwell and walked over to them at the table. Johnny looked a little disgruntled by his reappearance, but he held his tongue.

"Maria told me about keeping her powers for last. I was thinking maybe we could delay my powers and give them to her. That way there can be two sets of your powers, which may be more useful." Reed explained quickly, but Amera shook her head.

"Well, the thing is, each of you has a part to play against Victor; and two sets of my powers aren't as useful as you may think in that situation." Amera explained, and Reed nodded.

"I understand. Sorry to mess around with the plan…dinner will be ready in about an hour when you guys are ready." Reed waved and headed back to the staircase, leaving Johnny and Amera to themselves.

"So do I get a power demonstration again, or is theory all I get?" Johnny joked, and Amera looked back at him.

"Of course. It's the one power I _can_ demonstrate, so I might as well." Amera jumped up, grabbing Johnny's hand and leading him to the Zen garden. After almost an hour of demonstration they headed back downstairs for dinner, leaving the Zen garden with a thin sheet of glass where Amera had stood.


	15. Day 15 - Part 1

Amera and Maria were on the roof of the Baxter Building once again, doing what Amera had promised from the previous day. They were going through each of Amera's powers while Maria took notes on her laptop. Amera explained all the emotions and adrenaline she used to feel to tap into the powers, and once she had gotten used to them, she didn't need as much of the emotions, but they were still there. Maria nodded once again and started typing furiously on her laptop when it switched off. Maria quickly tried to switch it back on when Amera materialised in front of her, looking stern.

"Enough notes! You're not going to have time to read them when you're fighting someone!" Amera snapped, and Maria quickly tried to gather her thoughts.

"This is for…when you leave…no one will be here to teach me." Maria stuttered. Amera shook her head and walked down the steps and jumped into the pool. Maria stood by, looking flabbergasted, when the water started stirring. Amera appeared out of the water, ten times bigger than her normal human frame, looking down at Maria.

"No one taught me. I taught myself. Don't be so insecure; you don't need other things to help you with this…you're _everything_ you need to be…" Amera spoke, her voice strong and resonant but soothing and calming. Maria was on the brink of crying when Amera slid up to her in the shape of moving stream, phasing to human in front of her; the leftover pool water was frozen into a massive spire piercing the air. Amera grabbed

Maria by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, eyes that she often met in the mirror.

"I _know_ how you're feeling; we're one in the same. I had to change after _this_ happened to me, you didn't have to because it hasn't happened _yet_. Once you're like me, you'll see how things change. You'll find a sense of bravery and courage you've never had. You'll change like I did, and for the better."

Maria couldn't hold back the tears now and they ran steadily down her face, but she nodded back to Amera anyways. Amera took a step back, and smiled at Maria, trying to ease her crying.

"My…_our_…powers work on what we feel. Often it'll be anger, fear, sadness or revenge; but we can work with them normally too. But you _need_ to understand all these things before I leave…it's the only advice I have to give." Amera explained, and Maria sniffed back her tears for a moment. Amera stepped forward again and hugged Maria tightly, making sure not to be too hot when she did. Maria clutched onto Amera and sniffed back her tears while Amera rubbed her back softly.

"That'll be all for today, Maria. I'll see you downstairs." Amera said and let go of Maria; Maria barely nodded before hurrying to the stairs, clutching her laptop. Within seconds of Maria disappearing into the stairwell, Johnny was coming out of it, looking rather perplexed.

"I just ran into Maria. She was balling her eyes out. What did you do to her?" Johnny asked, almost on the point of sounding impressed.

"Ugh…it was part of the lesson. I told she needs to feel more emotions to be able to learn how to use her powers. I guess I cracked the shell, but she's just getting started." Amera explained as Johnny came towards to her; he sat down on one of the deck chairs nearby. He sat down with a chuckle, looking backwards to Amera.

"I guess that's true…she is a bit uptight." Johnny nodded and turned, looking at the ice spire poking out of the pool shell. He looked back at Amera, pointing to the spire with an astonished look.

"Oh, sorry…" Amera shook her head and the water unfroze and settled back into the pool in a heartbeat. Johnny sat shaking his head with his mouth hanging open.

"I don't think I'd ever get used to that." Johnny laughed, and Amera took a seat next to him, laughing softly.

"Oh trust me; you do when it's part of your everyday life."

Johnny nodded and looked back to the pool, but Amera started to talk again.

"Talking about Maria and her emotions…you probably also need to loosen up a bit. You're way too uptight to be the Human Torch."

Johnny didn't seem to pay any attention to what she said, cracking a wide smile at her.

"That's my superhero name? The Human Torch?"

"Yes that's your superhero name, but that not what I'm talking about. To be the Human Torch you have to be more…carefree, reckless, adrenaline junkie type of guy." Amera said quickly and Johnny's face went from excited to solemn, and he nodded back at her with a sigh.

"Carefree, reckless…got it."

"I'm sorry if I sound…harsh, I don't mean it like that…you just need the right mindset for this thing to work." Amera said quickly, hoping to restore his happy demeanour. Johnny stood up, still straight-faced, and started walking towards the stairwell.

"I understand." He mumbled as he walked away. Amera jumped up, half-shouting at Johnny.

"I'm sorry that I sound bitchy…I just don't want things to go wrong again…I don't want you guys to deal with the same shit we had to. I want you to do this _right_." Amera said quickly and loudly, hoping that Johnny would stop and turn around or at least nod to her before leaving. Johnny stopped halfway between the stairwell and the deck, turning to face Amera. He spun around and walked back to her, and spoke as he got closer.

"You want carefree, reckless…you got it." Johnny sounded almost angry. Amera was going to try and apologize again, but Johnny did something she didn't expect. He grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him, pulling her hips to his before crashing his lips onto hers. Amera stood frozen for a second with her eyes wide open, letting Johnny kiss her. She gave in and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to meet her. It was like being home, just for those few moments it was _her_ Johnny kissing her and it felt like paradise. Johnny snapped back suddenly, bursting Amera's bubble of bliss. Johnny was rubbing his lips, flinching in pain and swearing profusely under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Amera quickly stuttered out.

"Uh…you burnt me." Johnny mumbled. Amera gasped and formed an ice cube in midair, putting it to his lips quickly, causing him to flinch in pain again.

"I'm sorry…Johnny and I had problem with this when we dated other people…he burnt a few girls, I burnt some guys…we stopped trying to be careful after we got together." Amera explained, hoping to distract Johnny enough from the pain on his mouth.

"I'm sorry…for kissing you." He mumbled with Amera still pressing the ice cube to his lips. Amera shook her head with a smile and looked up at him.

"It's ok. I kissed you back after all…and I burnt you because I forgot you're not fireproof."

Johnny nodded and stood upright, taking the ice cube from Amera and continuing to press it to his lips.

"You're…you're just the way I remember _my_ Amera…before she married Reed and became _Maria_. You…made me realize that I still kinda…have feelings for her." Johnny said, even though most of his words were hollow from the ice cube on his lips. Amera took in a sharp breath of shock. She knew how much it must've hurt him to admit that, and how much it must've still hurt him to lose Maria to Reed; but she still knew she had no place interfering in their relationships. Amera quickly kissed Johnny lightly on the cheek before smiling at him.

"I've got some things to do, tell the others I'll be back later."

"Wait, what do I tell them about this?" Johnny asked, pointing to his lips.

"You were standing too close to a demonstration of mine." Amera shrugged, walking to the ledge of the building and standing on the half-wall.

"Ah, so you're also still a quick liar. See you later." Johnny waved, and Amera nodded back at him. She jumped off the ledge and flamed up, flying down the street.


	16. Day 15 - Part 2

Amera headed through the skies of New York City, navigating her way through the skyscrapers. She was headed towards Von Doom Industries, trying to find out more about Victor's invasion plan. She phased into her air element, as to remain invisible. She hovered into front of the top floor window, where Victor's office occupied the entire floor. She looked inside, seeing nothing but elevator numbers scrolling their way up to the top floor. Amera seeped through the window cracks and hovered near the ceiling to see who would come out of the elevator. Amera waited and then the elevator slid open silently; Victor got out of the elevator along with three other people. Amera immediately recognized them from their classified military files, but it was more than obvious that they were the people with powers form the mission. The only woman in the group headed the other two men, following directly behind Victor. She had and aura of white around her; she was literally freezing cold and the air condensed around her. Her lips were blue and the ground crystallized where she walked, much to Victor's dismay. The other two men looked normal enough, but they must've been the other two power holders. There was a rustle behind them and then the elevator cables lurched; the last person in the elevator was something out of fantasy. It was a massive, ten-foot tall lycanthrope. He clutched his paw to the side of the elevator, sniffing the air before he fully exited the metal box.

"There's someone else in here." He said gruffly; it was almost indistinguishable from a growl. Victor snapped around, and stared him down.

"_Really_? Are you _blind_? There is no one here, and no one gets in without _me_, Ethan. There is nowhere anyone can hide in this glass box!" Victor scolded loudly at the lycanthrope, who was now known as Ethan, like he was a child. Ethan sniffed the air once more, and shook it off, trudging towards Victor's desk with the others. Victor sat behind his desk with a smirk on his face, turning to the woman Amera knew as Nyla.

"How is the plan going? I saw the news is going haywire with the threat of attack." Victor chuckled in his throat, half turning away to look out the window.

"Everything is in place. We will start with execution tomorrow." Nyla answered, sending white flakes from her mouth.

"Good. You are dismissed. Make sure to step off on the third floor and take the back exit. People don't need to know that you've come out of hiding _just yet_." Victor said, smiling and nodding at them to leave. They all headed back to the elevator, stepping in one after the other. Nyla stopped the doors from closing, turning to Victor one last time.

"There is something suspiciously different in your office…be sure to look into it." Nyla snapped, looking around the office once more before letting the doors slide close. Once the elevator numbers started scrolling back down, Victor stood up and looked around the room. He frowned at everything and shook his head, sitting back down in his chair. Amera floated around the desk, hovering just mere inches away from Victor's head as he started typing on his computer. A projection screen popped up, much like the ones in Reed's lab, which had marked locations on a map of the United States. He smiled to himself, and zoomed onto the marker in New York. Amera knew she had to show the map to Reed and the others. She tapped into Victor's computer and searched for his files that held the map and their detailing. She found a folder, heavily encrypted, and quickly downloaded it to her communicator. She swirled around a little longer, seeing if Victor would do anything else. He checked his dairy and noted his appointments before heading back out. Amera floated back through the window cracks and floated a little bit away from the building before reforming herself and flaming up, burning through the sky towards the Baxter Building. She landed on the balcony just outside the lounge, seeing the others inside. She twigged the lock with a flicker of metal manipulation and went inside, much to the surprise of the others.

"Where did you go? Johnny said you had to do some things." Maria asked, eyeing Amera suspiciously. Amera looked at Johnny, who was now holding a fresh icepack on his burnt lips. Amera held back her smile and looked at Maria.

"Yeah, also the burn thing is worrying. What were you doing up there?" Susan asked next, but Amera shook her off.

"It was just…never mind about that now, Susan. I just got something that you might want to see…" Amera held up her communicator, and put it on the coffee table.

"I snuck into Victor's office. The other team was there…and they were definitely talking about the invasion plan…its worse than we thought." Amera said, quickly switching her communicator on. The map appeared on the TV, with all the markers. Amera turned to the others; solemn, scared and serious.

"I'm sorry. There's no time left to prepare. Tomorrow is D-day…" Amera then turned to Reed, looking as serious as before.

"I'll head to the lab with you and help you with the unstable molecule theory. You'll need your suits in the morning. All the data we need is on my communicator."

Reed nodded, heading to the entrance hall in the meantime to get his jacket.

"We'll do what we can to help." Ben said quickly, putting his hand on Amera's shoulder.

"Thanks Ben." Amera smiled, her serious face cracking with a slight smile. She nodded to the others, and went towards the elevator, heading to Von Doom Industries again with Reed.


	17. Day 16 - Part 1

Amera and Reed arrived back in the morning, their new suits in hand. They had come back at the late hours of the night to catch some sleep while the suits were being manufactured; Herbie was using a laser cutter and hemmer that Amera made to make the suits. They had left early again to get the suits, so they looked well beyond tired, but they looked happy that they were finished. The others were in the lounge once they had arrived back, looking as nervous as they should've felt. Reed handed them all a suit and a communicator, which looked similar to Amera's but with slightly different features.

"Thanks for the help on that last missing link in my research. I can't believe it was something as simple as that." Reed smiled at Amera, and she nodded back at him.

"Well, it took Reed and half a dozen scientists to figure that out, so don't worry about it."

"It'll revolutionize our lives once we have powers." Reed carried on and Amera looked straight at Johnny.

"Well, you'll sure need it in the loft once Johnny has his powers, otherwise he'll burn the place down." Amera laughed lightly, and Johnny laughed sarcastically in her direction.

"Ha ha, very funny." Johnny rolled his eyes, crumpling his suit into one hand. They all headed to their respective rooms to put on their new Fantastic suits, and afterwards came back to the lounge. Amera stood waiting for them, in her Fantastic suit and holding the radiation extractor.

"We look ridiculous…maybe cool once we get the powers…but for now, ridiculous." Susan muttered, and Amera laughed.

"Well, time's up. They'll be starting any minute now, so we better head down to City Hall…let's hope they don't start the party without us." Amera quickly looked out the window after hearing sirens go past the building.

"We don't have time to mess around. I hope you don't mind, but we'll be flying there." Amera said, walking over to the doors that led to the lounge balcony. The others all looked slightly perplexed but before they could ask her how they would be flying, they all lifted off the ground and started floating towards the balcony doors. Amera opened them and floated off the ground herself before flaming on. The others were too stunned to ask her how she was doing it, but Johnny already knew. They flew out the balcony doors and down the street, to the stares from people below. As they neared City Hall, people were scattering in all directions, running and screaming. Amera stopped in mid-air, turning around to face the others that she was tailing behind her.

"This is the place. I hope you guys are ready."

They nodded back to her, and she let them all fall slowly to the ground. They landed a few blocks away from city hall, where the street was already empty. Dust clouded the air already, and Amera turned to the others.

"Guys, I want you to stay out of sight until…" Amera started, but it was already too late. The team of four, Victor's team, had already seen them and acknowledged their presence. They had the contraband weaponry with them, but it didn't look like they were intent on using it just yet. The woman, Nyla, headed the team of four and laughed when she saw the six people in front of her.

"You should probably get out of the way; the machinery doesn't work as well with organs in the gears." Nyla chuckled, which prompted the others to start laughing as well. Nyla looked at Reed, whom she recognized from Victor's company.

"Richards…you should probably…" Nyla started, setting eyes specifically on Amera. Her eyes panned over the six of them and noticed Maria, and then she stopped.

"…another Maria? What is this, the Wonder Twins show?" Nyla cackled at them, and Amera laughed along with her, only her laugh was laced with sarcasm.

"You're right, Nyla…another _Maria_. Except I go by my first name, Amera…and I come with some _extra_ perks."

Nyla opened her mouth to breathe her next insult, but was drowned out by a loud metallic crash behind her. Nyla whipped her head around, seeing nearly a dozen of the weapons closest to them reduced to squashed tin cans. One of the men closest to Nyla, one Amera recognized from his files as Wyatt, spun back to Amera and shouted at her.

"So what's your plan? Destroy our weaponry with some fancy explosives? It's not going to work…we've got some other things going for us." Wyatt shouted at Amera and she nodded back at him.

"Oh, I know. You think I came here without doing research on you…but like I said, you have your perks, and I have mine. I know all your powers, so let's just say I got the upper hand."

Nyla seethed at her, letting out a low hiss and frowning at her angrily. Nyla's eyes started going grey, and Amera turned to the others.

"Get out of here! I don't want you guys getting hurt!" Amera said, practically chasing Reed, Susan and the others away from herself. They disappeared down a side street, but they could clearly still see what was happening.

"You think chasing them away will save them?" Nyla asked in hushed tones.

"No, but the fight is between you and me, isn't it? They didn't do anything…so how about a one on one?" Amera shrugged casually, causing Nyla's side of the team to look rather surprised.

"Oh, brave one. Have it your way…" Nyla smiled, and sent a freezing blast towards Amera. Amera didn't even stumble in her stance, and Nyla's team spoke up.

"Nyla, don't be an idiot! You don't know what she can do." Wyatt and the other man Amera knew as Jaylon, shouted at her. Nyla spun her head around, and glared at them.

"She can't do anything! She's just _human_! The weaponry was destroyed with well placed explosives. At most, she's just _smart_." Nyla whipped her head back to face Amera, and sent another cold blast her way, this time freezing the road and causing an instant blizzard to fill the air. Amera held her position, making sure not to move. She knew Nyla was trying to freeze her; she knew she still had the advantage because they still thought she was a normal human like the others. Amera smiled through the cold and waited for Nyla to talk to her, which she inevitably would.

"All your brains and smarts won't help you in this. The cold, it has a funny way of clouding one's judgment." Nyla said loudly over the howling blizzard. Amera stood still, hearing Nyla come closer to her. Amera grabbed the radiation extractor out of her temporary holster and held it ready. Amera saw Nyla's frame approaching her through the blazes of cold mist, and held her breath. Amera froze her own skin in an instant, standing dead still as Nyla came into clear view. Nyla cracked a smile and almost leant her elbow up on Amera's shoulder, when Amera shattered out of the ice, her skin aglow with heat from her fire form. Amera stuck the radiation extractor against Nyla stomach and squeezed, catching Nyla off guard.

"Surprise…not your lucky day." Amera smiled, taking the last of Nyla's radiation with her. In less than a second the blizzard dissipated and Nyla fell to her knees, her eyes wide with shock.

"But…how…?" Nyla breathed, her eyes on the brink of tears. Nyla was normal again; olive skin, black hair…utterly normal.

"I said I had extra perks…you see, the planet that _I'm_ from, I was part of the team that went up on _that_ space experiment. You just got to see one of the things I'm capable of doing." Amera nodded, and metal cables sprang up out of the road, picking Nyla up and strapping her to the side of a building, ready for the authorities to arrest later. Amera looked towards the side alley where the others stood watching.

"Susan, get over here!" Amera waved quickly, and Susan ran over to her at full speed.

"Are you ready?" Amera asked and Susan nodded quickly. Amera released the radiation against Susan's chest, and within seconds it was over.

"Was that it?" Susan asked, looking rather worried, which made Amera look even more worried.

"Please tell me it worked…quickly, check if it did." Amera said, gesturing hurriedly for Susan to try and do something. Susan tried to remember all the theory Amera had taught her, and made a small force field. Amera gave a deep sigh of relief and smiled.

"Great. Next up is the wolfman. I'll need you to contain the other two." Amera said, nodding to the other team. Susan nodded, and they turned to face the other team.


	18. Day 16 - Part 2

The other team, now consisting of three, stood by in shock as they looked at Nyla strapped to the side of the building. Amera stood ready, waiting for one of them to come towards her. Susan was struggling with her force fields, but she eventually contained the other two, leaving Ethan for Amera to handle. Amera turned her body to metal, looking to Susan once.

"Try and keep them occupied by any means necessary. The wolfman is mine." Amera said, turning her head to face the lycanthrope. Susan nodded back, but within second of her encasing the other two, spontaneous explosions started all around them, sending rubble flying and windows shattering.

"What the hell is that, Amera!?" Susan shouted, trying to shield herself from the rubble coming towards her.

"That's Wyatt, the guy on your left. It's his power. Expand the force field; create a vacuum just until he passes out. We'll deal with him next." Amera said, facing the wolfman.

"Hey, your name is Ethan, right? I heard Victor call you that yesterday…" Amera tried to sound casual, but Ethan growled at her, revealing his large canines. He sniffed the air before letting out a harsh bark at her.

"It was _you_! I knew we weren't safe to be talking that day!"

"Well, it's not my fault that you're not Victor's most reliable team member…what do you say to making this easy for both of us; I take the wolfman burden off your shoulders and we don't get to fight. Sound good?" Amera asked, and he scrunched his nose at her, silently protesting her remarks.

"Enough with the wolfman crap!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess that means were doing this old school…gladiator versus the beast." Amera nodded, hoping to taunt him enough for him to start the fight. He planted his feet and sprang towards Amera, running much faster than she thought he could've. Amera took off towards him, not matching his pace but hoping to match his force. They clashed hard, causing the road to give way beneath their feet and cave in. They pushed and pulled, neither giving the other much leeway. Amera dug her metal fingers into Ethan's arm, causing him to yelp and to be distracted for a second. Amera kept her grip on his arms, picking him up and flinging him into the nearby building. Amera only caught a glimpse of Johnny, Reed and Ben, standing in the alleyway before hearing the rubble in the building move. Amera spun around, seeing Ethan jumping out of the rubble and sprinting towards her again. They clashed once more, neither giving in this time. The two men being contained in Susan's force fields were no longer struggling against her, but they were shocked into stillness while watching the fight.

"I still have an advantage. I know all about you, and you knew nothing of me until about five minutes ago." Amera whispered to him, knowing full well that he could hear her. Ethan growled at her, his arms shaking in anger but still he held her. Amera smiled, and an invisible force knocked Ethan clean from her hands, sending him tumbling down the street. He sprang back up, swearing at himself before turning his gaze at her.

"How many more powers can you hide!?" He shouted, and Amera paused, thinking for a second.

"There's still four more to go. Care to stick around to see it?"

Ethan was distracted for one moment, which was all Amera needed. More metal cables sprang out the road, wrapping around him and tying him to the ground. Amera strode over to him, looking over his writhing body trying to wriggle free of the cables. She took the radiation extractor out of its holster, and put it to his chest.

"It's nothing personal, but Victor will never get his way. Not on my planet and not on yours." Amera nodded, squeezing the trigger.

"No…please…" Ethan begged, but his fur was already receding into his body and his voice was smoothing out. He looked up at Amera, normal once again.

"I'm sorry…for doing this, for being part of this team…" He swallowed, and Amera shook her head.

"You could've pulled out of this team sooner…you could've been a good guy." Amera shrugged, standing up and walking away and turning herself into her human form. Ethan looked away, staring at the ground as Amera left him. Amera jogged up to Ben, holding the extractor ready.

"Are ready, Ben? This is now or never." Amera said, looking up at him. He gazed over at Susan, holding her force field spheres and looking in his direction. She nodded once and Ben looked down at Amera.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." Ben nodded and Amera put the extractor to his chest. She squeezed the trigger once again, and the radiation seeped into Ben. His chest started rippling, and then his visible skin started turning into orange rock. Once Amera removed the extractor from his chest on slipped it back into its holster, he was totally transformed. He looked down at his hands and then to Amera.

"Suppose I can help with the fight now, huh?" Ben asked, his gruff voice surprising him.

"Sure thing." Amera smiled, taking him by the shoulder and leading him out of the alleyway. Amera looked at the two team members left in force fields and pointed to the one with the short buzz cut.

"You're next, Wyatt."


	19. Day 16 - Part 3

Wyatt laid his eyes on Ben and Amera heading towards him, and once he saw Amera point at him, he knew it was his turn to give up his powers.

"You're next, Wyatt" Amera scowled at him, and he knew it was time to fight. The explosions all around them started again, blowing holes into walls and windows out of buildings.

"Susan, vacuum seal him again." Amera said, and Susan did as she was told. The bubble expanded and his head started swaying until it dipped back. He had passed out.

"Ok, let it down a bit just till he wakes up." Amera said again, standing right next to the bubble.

"But he's going to start the explosions again…" Susan said, and Amera shook her head.

"Well, if he's wants a fight, the odds are against him." Amera smiled, looking up at Ben and patting him on the shoulder. Susan let the bubble down, and he started shifting again.

"Hey sleepy…" Amera called out, and Wyatt lifted his head to look at her. She held her hand on the radiation extractor, ready for his tricks.

"Well Wyatt, you have two options here…give up peacefully and give your dose of radiation to someone that'll use it more responsibly; or you can go through what Ethan did and we'll take it anyway." Amera suggested and Wyatt bit back at her through clenched teeth.

"If I do either, Victor will still be coming to announce his plans to the world." Wyatt spat at her, and she nodded back at him with a devilish grin.

"Well here's hoping he shows up soon. We're planning to stop him once and for all."

Wyatt started gasping for air, and Amera turned back to Susan.

"Ok, let up a little more." Amera asked. Susan dropped the field at little more but as soon as she did; a massive explosion in the building alongside Reed, Maria and Johnny sent it crashing towards the ground. Amera spun around, concentrating on the metal supports in the rubble to shift to the centre and away from the others. Amera spun around, looking Wyatt dead in the eyes, and Ben recognized something in Amera's change of demeanour.

"No, Amera. Don't do it." Ben begged, and Amera turned to him.

"This is what we do Ben, you have to get used to this." Amera said, looking back at Wyatt who was now smiling devilishly. Amera walked right up to the bubble and looked at him.

"No, you don't get a choice now. I was playing around with Ethan, but you get it worse now." Amera clenched her eyebrows together, but it didn't deter Wyatt's smile.

"Let him out, Susan." Amera asked calmly, but Susan hesitated.

"Amera, are you sure? He could send another explosion…"

"Do it, Susan." Amera said again, not taking her eyes off of Wyatt. Susan complied, dropping the field and letting Wyatt land on his feet. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Amera's hands were around his neck; her hands were metal and squeezing hard, not letting him gasp for air but he was turning blue rapidly.

"I'm going to do to you what Nyla planned to do to me…" Amera seethed, but before she could do anything more, the radiation extractor was out of its holster once more and against Wyatt's chest. Susan had grabbed her extractor and activated it, and then she was shouting at Amera.

"It's over! Let him go!" Susan shouted. Amera plucked her hands back from Wyatt's throat, causing him to collapse and cough for air.

"Who must this radiation go to?" Susan asked, and Amera nodded towards the others.

"Johnny." She answered. Susan pointed to him and gestured for him to come over. Johnny ran over, looking at Wyatt choking for air on the ground.

"That was pretty brutal…" Johnny grimaced at Amera and she shook her head.

"Well, it got us what we needed." Susan answered on Amera's behalf, putting the radiation extractor to Johnny's chest and pulling the trigger once again. The radiation seeped into Johnny, his change not visible to the eye like Ben's was. Johnny stepped a few feet back, putting to use all the advice Amera gave him. His hands lit up in flames, and it ran along the length of his arms before spreading to the rest of his body. His switched his flames off in an instant, smiling at his own hands.

"Well, there's the Johnny I know." Amera smiled and then pointed to the last guy.

"Not going to put up a fight, are you…Jaylon, was it?" Amera asked, walking up to the last guy in Susan's force field bubbles. He lay back against the force field like it was a lazy Sunday afternoon in Central Park.

"Well if I did, you'd probably still kick my ass. I guess I picked the wrong side." Jaylon answered, shrugging back and looking down at Amera.

"Nothing you can do about it now, but we can no longer trust you with your powers." Susan added and Jaylon shook his head.

"Well, let it be noted that I gave them up without a fight and willingly." Jaylon added and Amera nodded.

"I'm sure the feds will go easy on you." Johnny laughed and Susan shushed him quickly. Susan put the radiation extractor against the force field and squeezed the trigger. The radiation seeped effortlessly through the field and into the chamber of the extractor. Reed came to them without being asked to and stood next to Susan. She put the muzzle against his chest and the radiation seeped into him as well. He stretched his hands to see if it worked; he smiled when he saw his fingers extend further than possible.

"Well, I guess its game over…" Jaylon shrugged as Susan let him out of her field. Amera tied him and Wyatt up together and placed them near Nyla.

"Yeah, guess it is game over for you guys…" Johnny laughed and Jaylon shot him a defiant look.

"Not for us. For you, fool." Jaylon spat and Amera frowned.

"You've lost your powers…what could you even mean by that?" Amera asked and Jaylon turned his head, nodding down the street.

"Here comes Victor. He's more prepared than you and your four new superheroes." Jaylon nodded again. The four newly gifted superheroes and Amera looked down the street to see Victor approaching, stealing power from surrounding cables lines and transformers. Amera turned back to Jaylon and bent down to face him at eye level, smirking at him.

"Well, it looked like the game is just beginning and there's at least one advanced player on this side of the board." Amera stood again, joining the others in facing Victor down.


	20. Day 16 - Part 4

Victor approached the newly endowed Fantastic Five more cautiously than he had to; considering that he probably didn't know about them stealing his team's powers. Victor glanced over to the building where the others were held up in cables, and then looked back to the new Fantastic Five. He had a glare in his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but paused when he noticed that there were two Amera's. He glanced at one, watching the team strapped to the building, and the other that was looking straight at him.

"What's happening here?" Victor asked, and his voice conveyed the obvious confusion.

"You're in for a surprise Victor…" Amera said, gazing back to Maria and then back to Victor. He nodded for her to carry on, and she obliged.

"I'm not from your Earth. I'm from an Earth where _we_ went on the mission, _we_ got the powers and _we_ kick your ass."

Victor chuckled deeply, not loud enough to hear but enough for it to change his manner.

"Ah, so you're the little thing that came burning through that wormhole two weeks ago."

Amera hid her shock well enough that he didn't pick up on it.

"Either you're really observant or have really good contacts." Amera spat at him and he shrugged.

"Probably both, but you should've known that already… maybe you should try and be less flashy when entering New York City in broad daylight." Victor cackled out loud, causing it to echo off the buildings around them. Amera straightened out and looked at Victor calmly, nodding to the other detained team.

"What was the plan, Victor? Trying to take over the world _again_?"

"Well, yes. I was hoping to start with the country I'm already in…convenience, you see." Victor rolled his head and snapped his eyes on Amera, lashing her with a single bolt of electricity. Amera phased into stone before it struck her, leaving her unharmed but with ringing in her ears.

"Yip, I remember that. You've tried to take over the world before, my world at least. I remember your tricks, they get awfully stale." Amera stayed in her stone state, turning her voice slightly rough like Ben's. Victor stood back, looking at his team off to the side, realising after seeing Nyla and Ethan that they didn't have their powers anymore.

"You took my team's powers? And gave them to yours I suppose? How do you think you'll be able to take me on when your team don't know how to manage their powers?" Victor cackled; staring at Susan before sending a bolt at her. Amera bolted forward to try and stop it, but Susan flung her arms up, putting a force field over her head before the bolt struck her. The bolt bounced off her force field, straight up into the air and out of sight. Amera smiled and nodded at Susan for her good efforts. Amera turned back to face Victor, but backed slowly towards Susan and the others with a smile on her face.

"I think they'll manage just fine, Victor. But I've also gotten a lot better with practice over these few years; and you've never dealt with me before, but I've tussled with you. So whose really on the uneven playing ground?"

Victor shrugged and smiled, looking at the power lines and transformers in the vicinity.

"Well, I've got access to all the power on the eastern seaboard, how long can you go in a fight?"

Amera tried to hide her shock. She knew Victor could draw electricity from the power lines and transformers, but they stopped him before he could get very far. Could he draw all the power from the eastern seaboard before they could stop him? She really didn't want to know.

"_Guys, please don't freak out. I'm talking to you via our communicators because I don't want Victor to hear…here's the plan, we've done it before, but this is going to end a little different…_" Amera told them over their communicators. The team listened intently, while Victor stood by watching them in confusion.

"Are we all on Sunday afternoon tea or are we giving up?"

Amera snapped her head back up and looked straight at Victor.

"No, just working on a plan."

"Did your plan include…_this_?" Victor asked loudly as a blot of electricity cracked through the air, hitting Amera squarely and knocking her back a few feet. She was still in her stone form, but the raw power was enough to leave a dent. Before she could straighten out, another bolt hit her, one after the other until she was knocked to the ground.

"Thank you for letting me know that you were the strongest in your little group. At least I know now where to start."

Amera tried to lock onto his metal body hiding just beneath his skin, but her concentration was broken every time she got a lock on it. She was struck time and time again, but she eventually shifted to her feet and stood, feeling for cables under the ground. She could sense them, but she couldn't do anything while Victor was on her.

"I've noticed that it's hard for you to concentrate when getting hit by these bolts…" Victor laughed. Every time he laughed, Amera wanted to kick him, but it seemed like someone wanted to do it before her. Ben ran up to Victor, knocking him down to the ground before picking him up and tossing him about six blocks down the street.

"I guess I can see the appeal of this." Ben nodded, looking down at his hands and seeing how far he threw Victor. Amera shook herself off, and pointed at Victor.

"Guys, this is it. We only have a few minutes to do this. Susan, trap Victor and keep him in there. Johnny, get inside and burn him up. I'll keep him down and keep this place cool. Ben, get ready to cool this bastard down. Reed, keep him restrained so long while we get this coordinated." Amera called out to everyone, and they started heading towards Victor. Victor was back up on his feet, coming towards them, armed with electricity coming down from the power lines. Reed sprung to action, wrapping his body around Victor and isolating him from gaining anymore power.

"Ben, over there!" Amera pointed to a fire hydrant. Ben stood next to it, watching eagerly as the others took their places.

"Susan, Johnny, here we go." Amera took a deep breath and then nodded to Reed.

"Everyone ready? 3…2…1!" Reed shouted and sprang off of Victor. Susan held out her hands, creating a force field around Victor and insulating him from his power source.

"Johnny, in the top!" Amera pointed to the top of the force field, while gesturing to Susan to open a small hole in the top. Johnny lit up for the first time, trying to hide his shock as he lifted off the ground and entered the hole in the top of the force field. He flew around

Victor, making intense fire trails all around him. The air all around them starting heating up, causing Susan to sweat. Amera cooled the air around them and made the fire as hot as she could. Susan was struggling for her first time with force fields; she was shaking immensely and her nose started bleeding.

"This is it, ready guys!" Reed shouted, and Amera nodded. Susan dripped her field and Johnny flew out; Johnny collapsed on the pavement nearby and Amera caught Susan before she fell to the ground. Victor stood in the middle of the melted street as a glowing, white-hot metal figure.

"Is that it? All you came up with was a little heat?"

"You're smart enough Victor; tell me, what happened when you cool super-heated metal?" Reed smiled, pointing to Ben to start his work. Ben kicked off the top of the fire hydrant he was standing next to, and redirected it towards Victor. A loud emission of steam filled the air, along with the billowing white clouds that came with it. The water pierced through the steam until the hissing of metal stopped. Ben clamped the fire hydrant closed with his massive hands, and they stood waiting for the steam to disappear.

"Let me." Amera said, holding out one hand and pushing it down, taking the steam with it. Victor stood in place, frozen as a former image of himself. Amera looked at Susan, and nodded.

"Can I do this? I want to give Maria her powers." Amera smiled, and Susan nodded, taking the radiation extractor out of her belt where she had stored it away from Amera.

"Sure. I guess it's kinda important to you." Susan handed her the extractor and smiled. Amera walked Susan over the pavement where she sat down next to Johnny.

"Are you alright, Johnny?" Amera asked, and he held up a thumb.

"I'll be fine, just dizzy."

Amera smiled and turned around, heading towards the frozen statue of Victor. She put the radiation extractor up against his chest and sighed.

"I never thought I'd have to do that again, but at least now I know how to permanently end your antics on my planet." Amera nodded down to the extractor and smiled. She squeezed the trigger, pulling the radiation into the storage chamber. As Victor's radiation seeped away, his metal body disappeared; leaving a very human and weak Victor in his place. Victor looked down at Amera and shook his head, staring at her directly in the eyes.

"I'll try again, I'll get it right."

"I've heard that _so_ many times. Good luck getting that right in maximum security." Amera lifted her hand and cables whipped out of the road, tying Victor down while the cops arrived. Amera flamed up and flew down the street to Maria, who still stood in the alley where Amera first told them to hide. Amera landed next to her, flaming down as she hit the pavement. Amera smiled at her as she saw the realization in Maria's eyes as to what was about to happen.

"It'll all be fine. You'll save the world, more times than you imagine. You'll be here to help, and you will make the difference in the world that you've always wanted to." Amera said calmly, walking over to her and put the extractor to her chest. Maria didn't flinch away, but she looked at Amera with eyes full of tears.

"Make a difference? How did you…?" Maria gasped, and Amera smiled back.

"We _are_ the same person; I guess we still want the same things." Amera nodded, squeezing the trigger and letting the radiation out. Maria held her breath as the radiation filled her body, locking her eyes onto Amera. Amera pulled the extractor back, and nodded to Maria.

"Well, let's see if it worked." Amera nodded, and Maria lit up in her fire form and smiled.

"I think that means it worked." Maria shouted in excitement, moving her flames around her as she floated out of the alley and towards Reed. She switched off right next to Reed, landing on the street next to him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his next and smiled.

"We're going to change the world. I can feel it." Maria smiled, planting a kiss on Reed's lips. Amera lit up and landed next to Johnny in a second, joining him in watching Reed and Maria celebrate on one side of the street and Susan and Ben on the other.

"Hey, you're superheroes now. You're going to do great things." Amera bumped his shoulder with hers and he smiled.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks for helping us. I don't think we could've done this without you." Johnny said, placing his arm around Amera's shoulder and pulling her close. Amera leant into his chest, feeling the familiar warmth of his body against hers. She smiled, and put her head up against his shoulder. They sat in silence as they watched the others celebrate and waited for the cops to arrive to arrest Victor and his team.


End file.
